A group of California-based aluminum companies will pay $549.5 million to settle federal allegations that they ran a scheme to dodge antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum extrusions imported from China. The Justice Department announced the settlement on May 13, calling it a direct product of President Donald Trump’s America First Trade Policy and a warning to anyone who thinks they can cheat on tariffs.
According to the DOJ, Perfectus Aluminum Inc., Perfectus Aluminum Acquisitions LLC, and four affiliated warehousing companies imported more than 2.2 million aluminum extrusions from China between 2011 and 2014. The companies allegedly spot-welded these extrusions together and presented them to U.S. Customs and Border Protection as finished pallets, then told customs officials the products were finished merchandise not subject to duties.
There was just one problem: no customers for the pallets existed, and not a single pallet was ever sold.
The Justice Department said the settlement resolves allegations that the companies violated the False Claims Act by knowingly and improperly evading or conspiring to evade antidumping and countervailing duties owed on aluminum extrusions imported from China. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche framed the case around President Trump’s America First Trade Policy, stating that trade laws and tariff payments level the playing field for U.S. manufacturers. CBP also emphasized that duty evasion hurts companies that follow the rules and undermines economic security.
The DOJ indicated the companies made false statements on CBP Form 7501 Entry Summaries regarding the duties owed. Under the settlement, 17.5 percent of the settlement proceeds will be returned to CBP as part of the False Claims Act relator share—a substantial payout for whistleblowers who helped bring the scheme to light.
This was not a cold case. A jury convicted the Perfectus defendants in 2021 on charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States. After that criminal conviction, six Southern California companies were ordered to pay $1.83 billion in restitution.
In the earlier criminal case, the Justice Department stated that six Southern California companies had been ordered to pay $1.83 billion in restitution after a jury found they participated in a conspiracy to defraud the United States by disguising aluminum imports as pallets. The DOJ described how large amounts of aluminum were made to look like pallets to avoid duties on Chinese aluminum. That earlier announcement noted that the criminal case followed a jury verdict, while the new May 2026 settlement resolves related civil False Claims Act litigation, including whistleblower suits.
Together, these cases show why this is not a one-day paperwork dispute but the latest financial consequence in a long-running tariff-evasion case.
Antidumping and countervailing duties exist because China flooded the U.S. market with cheap aluminum, undercutting American producers. The duties are intended to level the playing field. Allegedly, these companies took raw Chinese aluminum extrusions, welded them into shapes that resembled pallets, filed paperwork claiming they were finished goods exempt from duties, and then stripped them back down into aluminum stock once cleared customs. No one bought the pallets—these were costumes.
The DOJ’s Trade Fraud Task Force, which was central to this case, targets tariff and duty evasion that deprives the government of revenue and weakens domestic industries. This framing matters because every evaded duty dollar is a direct subsidy to foreign producers and a hit on American companies and workers.
The civil settlement does not mean every allegation was separately proven at trial. The separate 2021 criminal conviction is distinct from this civil case. That conviction, the earlier $1.83 billion restitution order, and the new $549.5 million civil settlement collectively represent enormous financial consequences.
Tariff evasion is not a victimless regulatory shortcut—it is a betrayal of trade rules designed to protect American manufacturers, jobs, and the integrity of the system itself. The DOJ has just put a nine-figure price tag on that betrayal, and anyone attempting a similar scheme should be prepared for severe financial consequences.