A Charlotte-based distributor of cutting tool material will pay $54.4 million in a settlement agreement for allegedly failing to pay custom duties on its product imported from China, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The case began with a whistleblower, and he will receive almost $10 million of the settlement. And according to the whistleblower’s attorney, the settlement payment is one of the largest in custom duties’ evasion cases.
Ceratizit USA LLC sells tungsten carbide products, which can be used to create cutting tools and other hard materials. Ceratizit gets the tungsten carbide from a manufacturer in China and the product is shipped to the U.S. via Taiwan, according to the settlement agreement…