According to Aristegui Noticias, China's Ministry of Commerce rejected on Thursday, August 20, 2026, the White House report accusing it of using Mexico and Canada as transshipment platforms to evade tariffs. Spokesperson He Yadong dismissed the document as a "false narrative" that "disregards facts and distorts reality."
The report, released by the White House on August 14 under the title "The Massive Transshipment Fraud: Origin, Scope, and Cost," accuses Beijing of concealing the true origin of its goods through sewing, labeling, packaging, and inspection in third countries, including Mexico, Canada, and several Southeast Asian nations. The accusation compounds other friction points between the world's two largest economies, among them semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and rare earths, and comes ahead of a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington scheduled for September 24. For Mexico, the accusation arrives as Forbes México reports that the American Society of Mexico (AmSoc) is warning that scrutiny over goods' origin is set to intensify, at a pivotal moment for the USMCA review.
In its response, AmSoc, which has represented U.S. citizens, associations, and businesses in Mexico since 1942, stressed that growth in Mexican exports cannot be attributed solely to Chinese products, given that real investment, employment, and industrial transformation processes exist in Mexico. Its president, Larry Rubin, said the main risk is not limited to cases of triangulation or trade evasion, but that the absence of robust verification mechanisms could cast suspicion over entire sectors of Mexican manufacturing. "The smart response is neither to deny the problem nor to overstate it: it is to get ahead of it, raise traceability standards, and demonstrate with data where value is actually created," he said. The organization proposes traceability mechanisms, information sharing, and origin verification in sensitive sectors, and argues that Mexico should enter the USMCA review with open data.
The dispute over goods' origin remains a central friction point between the United States, China, and Mexico ahead of the USMCA review, which AmSoc frames as an opportunity to strengthen origin verification. Xi Jinping's visit to Washington, planned for September 24, will be the next key moment to watch.
This article was written with artificial intelligence assistance based on verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.