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 Trump’s America First Trade Policy.
The alleged scheme involved Perfectus Aluminum Inc., Perfectus Aluminum Acquisitions LLC, and four affiliated warehousing companies importing more than 2.2 million aluminum extrusions from China between 2011 and 2014. The companies spot-welded the extrusions into pallets and presented them to U.S. Customs and Border Protection as finished merchandise, claiming they were exempt from duties.
No customers for these pallets existed, and not a single one was ever sold.
The settlement resolves allegations that the companies violated the False Claims Act by knowingly evading or conspiring to evade antidumping and countervailing duties. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche linked the case to President Trump’s America First Trade Policy, stating trade laws and tariff payments level the playing field for U.S. manufacturers. The Department of Justice noted that the companies made false statements on CBP Form 7501 Entry Summaries regarding the duties owed.
In a 2021 criminal trial, the Perfectus defendants were convicted on charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States. Following this conviction, six Southern California companies were ordered to pay $1.83 billion in restitution.
The Justice Department’s earlier criminal case described the same conduct: the companies imported aluminum disguised as pallets to avoid duties. The criminal case was based on a jury verdict, while this May 2026 settlement resolves related civil litigation under the False Claims Act, including whistleblower suits.
Antidumping and countervailing duties were implemented because China flooded the U.S. market with cheap aluminum, undercutting American producers. The companies allegedly took raw Chinese aluminum extrusions, welded them into pallet shapes, filed paperwork claiming they were finished goods exempt from duties, and then stripped them back into aluminum stock after clearing customs.
The DOJ’s Trade Fraud Task Force targets tariff and duty evasion that weakens domestic industries. Every duty dollar evaded is a direct subsidy to foreign producers and a hit on American companies and workers.
