White House Report Includes Georgia in Transshipment Risk Assessment
By Messenger Staff
Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Georgia is among more than 40 countries identified in a White House report as having elevated risks of goods being routed through their territory to the United States to avoid tariffs, particularly those imposed on Chinese products.
The report, "The Great Transshipment Scam," says Chinese goods can be sent through third countries, where they may be relabeled, repackaged or minimally processed, while documentation can be altered to make the goods appear to come from another country before entering the U.S. market.
The White House places the countries in three groups: "Diversified Scale Leaders," including Canada, the European Union and India; "Scale Leaders with Significant Economic Integration with China," including Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey; and "Small, Opportunistic Chinese Targets," the largest group, which includes Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Morocco and Uzbekistan.
The report says Georgia and Azerbaijan provide "rail and dry port transit, consolidation, and overland-to-maritime connections."
Georgia is also listed as an example of a Belt and Road overland node in what the report calls the "Functional Architecture of the Shadow Transshipment Network," alongside Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. It describes their role as involving rail and dry-port transit, cargo consolidation and transfers between overland and maritime routes.
Asked about Georgia's inclusion at a briefing on August 18, Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze questioned whether the report was based on evidence.
"Is there any specific fact there? I don't think there is any specific fact," he told TV Pirveli, saying Georgia had repeatedly asked for facts but had not received them.
When asked whether the White House would have based the report on facts, Kobakhidze said that could not be assumed.
"Various sides have often written many things without facts," he said, adding that "someone may deliberately provide the White House with incorrect information."
Kobakhidze said Georgia was taking measures to prevent such activity.
"We are doing everything to ensure that no such scheme exists in the country," he said. "Let them provide us with facts on any issue, and we will respond accordingly."
