The White House’s absurd claim of a Chinese transshipment “scam”

A shipping container labeled ''China Shipping'' is seen on the back of a truck waiting to be unloaded and stacked in the Port of Seattle in Seattle, Washington, USA.

Photograph: Reuters

Aug 18th 2026|SINGAPORE|5 min read

IN G.K. CHESTERTON’S parable of the fence, those eager to tear down seemingly useless structures are urged to understand why they were built in the first place. Chesterton’s fence has long been received wisdom among American conservatives of a certain age, but Peter Navarro, Donald Trump’s chief trade ideologue, seems to have missed the memo. In a new paper published by Mr Navarro’s office in the White House, titled “The Great Transshipment Scam”, dozens of countries from Japan to Jordan stand accused of abetting a Chinese plot to dodge American tariffs. Absurd as this claim is, the paper is nevertheless a vivid exposition of the Trump administration’s muddled thinking on trade.

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