Case in Point: Uni-Tile
Scheme begins
Chinese cabinets, quartz and tile routed through Malaysia, undervalued and misdescribed, through shell importers, according to the indictment.
Industry files the EAPA allegation
The American Kitchen Cabinets Alliance builds and files the case. CBP cannot start one itself.
CBP finds evasion
EAPA 7673: evasion confirmed against six importers, Uni-Tile among them. Duties suspended for collection. The alleged conduct continued for another ten months.
Criminal indictment
After an HSI and CBP investigation, three Assistant U.S. Attorneys in San Francisco charge the CEO, a customs broker, a Chinese forwarder and three companies with conspiracy, wire fraud, smuggling and money laundering over $109 million in evaded duties. The same day, CBP issues a $222.5 million fraud penalty notice.
Civil suit at the Court of International Trade
CBP's demands went unpaid. Main Justice, through the Civil Division's National Courts Section, sues to recover $67.9 million in duties and $222.5 million in penalties.
Nothing resolved
Both cases are pending. The allegations have not been proven. No duties or penalties have been reported collected.
Criminal case: pending in the Northern District of California. Civil case: pending at the Court of International Trade. Duties and penalties demanded: $290.4 million. Reported collected: none. The allegations have not been proven.
This is the coordinated response the system is supposed to produce, and it deserves credit. It also shows the arithmetic. One importer required CBP's trade investigators, HSI agents, a three-prosecutor criminal team and a separate civil team at Main Justice, over years, and the money is still outstanding. Multiply that by the 3,233 allegations filed this year and the capacity question answers itself.
Sources: Our update · DOJ, Dec. 18, 2025 · DOJ, Oct. 7, 2026
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