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. The alleged scheme was not subtle. 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, spot-welding them together and presenting them to U.S. Customs and Border Protection as finished pallets. The companies then allegedly told CBP 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. Perfectus Aluminum Inc. and Related Companies Agree to Pay $549.5M to Settle False Claims Act Allegations Relating to Evaded Customs Duties “The President’s America First Trade Policy defends this country’s national and economic security and ensures compliance with trade laws,… pic.twitter.com/dHG4QxRUAe — U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) May 13, 2026 The Justice Department laid out the scope of the case and tied it explicitly to trade enforcement under the current administration: 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, saying trade laws and tariff payments level the playing field for U.S. manufacturers. CBP also stressed that duty evasion hurts companies that follow the rules and undermines economic security. The DOJ said the companies made false statements on CBP Form 7501 Entry Summaries regarding the duties owed. Under the settlement, the False Claims Act relator share will be 17.5 percent of settlement proceeds returned to CBP, a substantial payout for the whistleblowers who helped bring the scheme to light. This was not a cold case. A jury convicted the Perfectus defendants back 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. The Justice Department’s earlier announcement on the criminal case described the same underlying conduct: In the earlier criminal case, the Justice Department said 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 through aluminum imports disguised as pallets. The DOJ described large amounts of aluminum that were made to look like pallets in order to avoid duties on aluminum imported into the United States. That earlier announcement said the pallets were part of a scheme involving duties imposed on Chinese aluminum and companies that received the shipments after the duties were in place. It also explained that the criminal case followed a jury verdict, while the new May 2026 settlement resolves related civil False Claims Act litigation, including whistleblower suits. Put together, the two DOJ records show why this is not a one-day paperwork dispute. It is the latest financial consequence in a long-running tariff-evasion case. Think about the mechanics here. Antidumping and countervailing duties exist because China was flooding the U.S. market with cheap aluminum, undercutting American producers. The duties are supposed to level the playing field. What these companies allegedly did was take raw Chinese aluminum extrusions, weld them into shapes that looked like pallets, file paperwork saying they were finished goods exempt from duties, and then strip them back down into aluminum stock once they cleared customs. No one was buying pallets. The pallets were a costume. Several California-based aluminum companies have agreed to pay over half a billion dollars to settle allegations they evaded customs duties on imports from China, federal officials announced Wednesday. https://t.co/7pukT19Io2pic.twitter.com/37bZ4ZQiay — KTLA (@KTLA) May 13, 2026 The DOJ’s Trade Fraud Task Force, which was central to this case, is specifically aimed at tariff and duty evasion that deprives the government of revenue and weakens domestic industries. That framing matters because the dollars at stake are not abstract budget numbers. Every duty dollar evaded is a direct subsidy to foreign producers and a direct hit on the American companies and workers competing against them. The civil settlement does not mean every allegation was separately proven at trial, and the article should be clear about that. The separate 2021 criminal conviction is different. That conviction, the earlier $1.83 billion restitution order, and the new $549.5 million civil settlement make the financial consequences enormous. The enforcement signal here is the real story. Tariff evasion is not a victimless regulatory shortcut. It is a betrayal of the trade rules that exist to protect American manufacturers, American jobs, and the integrity of the system itself. The DOJ just put a nine-figure price tag on that betrayal, and anyone running a similar scheme should be paying very close attention.