More tariff dodging strategies, plus intuition and data transmission strategies

Your new Strategy Toolkit newsletter (April 21, 2025)

(1) One stop shopping (to avoid tariffs)

Just as the word “tariffs” already vies for the prize of “word of the year 2025”, strategies to duck and sidestep same tariffs are popping up everywhere. Nowhere more so than in China’s supply chains, what with China the leading target of US tariffs by far.

A clever example is that of B2B merchants who offer one-stop services including undervaluing goods (legally and innovatively).

“These entities offer what are known as "double clearance and tax inclusive" services, and have exploded in numbers since Trump launched a trade war on China in his first term. For bargain rates advertised on Chinese social media, they oversee customs compliance on both sides of the trade, sometimes working through related companies that act as importers of record. Lawyers say that one of the tricks is double invoicing, which can include understating the cost of a product on one invoice, while putting the rest on another for a service not subject to tariffs, like "marketing."“*

* Xie, S. and Pak Yiu, “China's formidable logistics sector challenges Trump tariff enforcers,” Nikkei Asia (April 11, 2025); https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Policy-Asia/China-s-formidable-logistics-sector-challenges-Trump-tariff-enforcers