US seeks over $280M from kitchen-products importer and CEO over China duty evasion

The Justice Department has filed a civil fraud suit tied to a criminal case already charged in December 2025, seeking to recover unpaid customs duties and fraud penalties from an importer and its chief executive personally. For compliance and GC teams tracking trade-fraud enforcement, the filing shows how civil recovery under the Tariff Act now runs in parallel with criminal prosecution of the same alleged conduct.

• The government seeks $67.9 million in unpaid customs duties and $222.5 million in fraud penalties from Uni-Tile & Marble Inc. and CEO Xin Mian Pan, jointly and severally.
• The alleged scheme ran from September 2018 to August 2023 using multiple shell companies to transship, undervalue and misdescribe goods imported from China.
• The conduct spanned 503 declared shipments of wooden cabinets, vanities, quartz surface products, ceramic tiles and other merchandise.
• The civil complaint enforces a CBP demand under 19 U.S.C. § 1592(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, based on conduct also charged criminally on December 18, 2025 in the Northern District of California.
• The Justice Department's Trade Fraud Task Force, created to combat avoidance of import duties, partners with CBP on the matter.

Executive summary

The United States filed a civil fraud lawsuit in the United States Court of International Trade against importer Uni-Tile & Marble Inc. and its chief executive officer, Xin Mian Pan, jointly and severally, the Justice Department said. The government seeks…

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