IMPORTER TRADER

One of my clients wishes to import fabric from china. They have speciality in quality and designs and have many customers (exporters) in India. If they import and then sell to these exporters, they have to pay huge custom duty and then claim refunds. Whereas if these manufacturing exporters import, they just do it against advance license. My client is having a thin marging and cannot afford to get his working capital blocked in custom duty. Can anyone suggest me the possible way out. My client doesnt want to sell material on High Seas as the manufacturer exporter will come to know his factories/ mills in china.