Compliance Radar
Who was sanctioned, and for what?
Fines, court rulings and incidents from Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa: 2,207 cases from 44 jurisdictions, each with an official source and checked against that source before publication. Filter by country, area of law and sector. Click a chart to drill down one level.
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per year, by date of decision| Period | Cases | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 | €46.4m |
| 2026 | 2 | €484.5m |
5 cases
20 May 2026 Farjess Inc. und Royal Canadian Steel Inc.Canadian steel companies pay 19 million USD – steel from Asia and Europe declared as Canadian €16.4m
Two Canadian steel companies allegedly declared flat-rolled steel from China, Indonesia, Italy, Turkey and Vietnam to US customs as being of Canadian or US origin from May 2019 to January 2025. The settlement of 19 million USD (a joint payment with a further settling party) resolves the lawsuit of a customs broker, who receives around 3.61 million USD.
Base origin declarations in cross-border trade on mill certificates – and take note that your own customs broker is often the first to spot inconsistencies.
Proof of origin in steel trading
- Authority / court
- U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, und U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Michigan
- Area of law
- Sanctions and export control · Customs
- Legal basis
- False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 ff. (Vergleich; Haftung nicht festgestellt)
- Action
- Other
- Status of proceedings
- final
- Sector
- Steel and metals
- Liability of senior managers
- Measures against individuals are not reported here.
- Published
- 20 May 2026
Original amount 19,000,000 USD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 20 May 2026.
Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 2 · Direct link
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12 May 2026 Perfectus Aluminum Inc., Perfectus Aluminum Acquisitions LLC und vier verbundene LagergesellschaftenPerfectus Aluminum: 549.5 million USD – aluminium extrusions imported as sham pallets €468.1m
From July 2011 to June 2014, the companies imported more than 2.2 million Chinese aluminium extrusions that had merely been spot-welded into “pallets”, and declared them as finished goods not subject to anti-dumping and countervailing duties – there were never any buyers for the pallets. A jury had already convicted the companies in 2021 of, among other things, conspiracy to defraud the United States; the civil settlement of 549.5 million USD resolves several whistleblower lawsuits.
Do not use minimal processing to declare goods as finished products outside the scope of anti-dumping duties – that is duty evasion; classify goods according to what they actually are.
Tariff classification and evasion of anti-dumping duties
- Authority / court
- U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, und U.S. Attorney’s Office Central District of California
- Area of law
- Sanctions and export control · Customs
- Legal basis
- False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 ff. (zivilrechtlicher Vergleich)
- Action
- Other
- Status of proceedings
- final
- Sector
- Steel and metals
- Culpability
- intentional
- Published
- 12 May 2026
Original amount 549,500,000 USD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 12 May 2026.
Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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18 Dec 2025 Ceratizit USA LLCCeratizit USA: 54.4 million USD for misdeclared carbide products from China €46.4m
The distributor of tungsten carbide products allegedly transshipped Chinese goods via Taiwan and declared them as Taiwanese (2020–2024), misclassified products (2015–2024) and distributed goods without country-of-origin marking. The settlement of 54.4 million USD resolves a whistleblower lawsuit; the whistleblower receives around 9.75 million USD.
Treat origin, tariff classification and marking as three separate obligations – customs compliance that checks only one of them leaves the other risks open.
Tariff classification, origin declarations and origin marking
- Authority / court
- U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, und U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Michigan
- Area of law
- Sanctions and export control · Customs
- Legal basis
- False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 ff. (Vergleich; Haftung nicht festgestellt)
- Action
- Other
- Status of proceedings
- final
- Sector
- Steel and metals
- Published
- 18 Dec 2025
Original amount 54,400,000 USD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 18 Dec 2025.
- Ceratizit USA LLC Agrees to Pay $54.4M to Settle False Claims Act Allegations Relating to Evaded Customs Duties Press release of an authority
Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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10 Feb 2025 EPPO freezes assets: Chinese stainless steel declared as Korean Order
In 110 imports via a customs agency in Ferrara, two companies are alleged to have declared stainless steel coils from China as being of South Korean origin, thereby evading almost 2.4 million EUR in additional duty under the 2019 EU anti-dumping regulation; 60 further imports by one of the companies using the same method involve around 950,000 EUR. At the request of the Bologna office of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), assets totalling more than 3.3 million EUR were frozen; searches took place in Ferrara, Varese, Milan and La Spezia.
False origin declarations for steel subject to anti-dumping duties are prosecuted across borders by the EU prosecutor – with asset freezes already at the investigation stage.
Origin declarations for steel imports and liability of management
- Authority / court
- Europäische Staatsanwaltschaft (EPPO), Büro Bologna
- Area of law
- Sanctions and export control · Customs
- Legal basis
- EU-Antidumpingverordnung von 2019 (Edelstahlcoils aus China); Hinterziehung von Einfuhrzöllen
- Action
- Order
- Status of proceedings
- unknown
- Sector
- Steel and metals
- Liability of senior managers
- Those responsible at the companies are alleged to have certified the South Korean origin.
- Published
- 10 Feb 2025
- EPPO: Italy – EPPO seizes €950 000 in probe into import of stainless steel coils (10.02.2025) Press release of an authority
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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3 Feb 2025 Customs investigators: machinery manufacturer allegedly declared Indian steel as British Incident
From March 2021, a machinery manufacturer from the Rhein-Neckar district is alleged to have declared steel products worth more than 2.9 million EUR as being of British origin in more than 100 customs clearances, although the steel came from India and was only imported via the UK; correctly, 25% higher import duties would have been payable. In December 2024, the Stuttgart customs investigation office (Zollfahndungsamt Stuttgart), acting on behalf of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), searched business premises in Germany and at the British seller; the damage is estimated at several hundred thousand euros.
For steel, the actual origin determines the customs burden – check supplier declarations from intermediaries for plausibility.
Preferential and origin rules when buying steel via intermediaries
- Authority / court
- Zollfahndungsamt Stuttgart im Auftrag der Europäischen Staatsanwaltschaft (EPPO)
- Area of law
- Sanctions and export control · Customs
- Legal basis
- Verdacht der Steuerhinterziehung (Einfuhrabgaben nach EU-Zollrecht, falsche Ursprungsangaben)
- Action
- Incident without known action
- Status of proceedings
- unknown
- Sector
- Steel and metals
- Published
- 3 Feb 2025
- Zollfahndungsamt Stuttgart: Verdacht der Steuerhinterziehung bei der Einfuhr von Stahl (03.02.2025) Press release of an authority
Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link