3 charged over alleged scheme to pass off China-made mattresses as Singapore goods to avoid US duties

The case comes a day after the Trump administration flagged Singapore as one of more than 40 trading partners it said were at risk of being used to help evade US tariffs on Chinese goods.

A White House report cited concerns over “illegal transshipment”, where goods are routed through a third country facing lower US tariffs to avoid higher duties imposed on Chinese imports. Singapore was placed in a category of economies that the report said had preferential access to the US market, making them “attractive opportunistic targets” for rerouting goods.

The Trump administration said it plans to work with US Customs and Border Protection to use artificial intelligence to detect suspected transshipment by analysing shipment data, routing histories and other information.

Separately, investigators uncovered an alleged scheme to suppress the declared value of Healthy Living Biotech’s imports, thereby evading about S$111,000 of GST.

“Singapore Customs takes a serious view of the falsification of trade declarations or the misuse of Certificates of Origin,” the agency said.

“Such conduct undermines the integrity of international trade documentation and can damage Singapore’s standing as a trusted and reliable global trading hub.”

If convicted of making false declarations or statements required under the Regulation of Imports and Exports Act 1995, the suspects face a fine of up to S$10,000, up to two years’ jail or both.

If found guilty of causing incorrect trade descriptions to be applied to exported goods or making a false statement when applying for Certificates of Origin, the men may be fined up to S$100,000 or three times the value of the goods involved in the offence, whichever is greater, jailed for up to two years, or both.