Cross-border e-commerce smuggling status, causes and case analysis

Cross-border e-commerce smuggling, as a new form of Internet crime, has increasingly become an issue that requires urgent attention. According to analysis, cross-border e-commerce smuggling mainly manifests itself in various forms, including false declaration of trade methods, under-reporting of prices, and false declaration of product names. The main smuggling methods include falsifying the “three orders”, using e-commerce platforms to divert traffic declarations, and the emergence of online merchants.

Smuggling techniques and trends

There are four main forms of cross-border e-commerce smuggling:

1. False trade declaration method: By breaking general trade goods into parts and declaring them as cross-border e-commerce trade, we can avoid higher tax rates, that is, “three orders” fraud.
2. Under-declaring prices: In transactions, although orders and logistics are genuine, companies under-declare prices to customs by forging payment orders for the purpose of tax evasion.
3. False product names: Declaring goods that do not comply with the positive list to the customs by declaring false tariff numbers.
4. False declaration of import quantity: Taking advantage of the characteristics of e-commerce cargo inspection, under-declaration, over-import, or mixed shipments are carried out of the area.

Judging from the practice of case investigation, the complexity of smuggling techniques continues to increase, and the traditional smuggling model has gradually evolved into Internet-based and professional smuggling. Some smuggling gangs take advantage of loopholes in e-commerce platforms to package goods for cross-border e-commerce retail imports, bringing huge economic benefits.

Analysis of causes of smuggling

In 2019, the state adjusted its cross-border e-commerce retail import policy and increased the annual individual transaction limit to promote the transformation and upgrading of consumption and foreign trade. However, some criminals have taken advantage of the loopholes in the policy to falsely report goods as cross-border e-commerce retail imports and avoid import documents and related fees for some goods. This has led to frequent cross-border e-commerce smuggling.

Smuggling case analysis

Take a certain supply company as an example. In 2017, the company declared imported milk powder to the customs through false trade declarations and low price declarations, and forged orders and payment orders. The specific method is that his supervisor collected a large number of customer orders through a cross-border e-commerce platform, modified the price to 70% of the original price, and then declared it to the customs. During the operation, the company used false identity information and data cleaning methods to make customs inspection more difficult.

This case reflects the increasingly hidden and complex smuggling behavior in the cross-border e-commerce field, and also shows the country’s regulatory challenges.

Conclusion

Due to the diversity of cross-border e-commerce smuggling methods and the high-risk drivers of criminals, this field requires more sophisticated regulatory measures to deal with increasingly complex smuggling methods. At the same time, it can be seen from the cases that the government should strengthen the publicity and implementation of policies to curb the further spread of smuggling.