List 4 Tariffs on TVs From China Would Have ‘Negative Impact’ on US Consumers, Says TCL

King also wants to present evidence at the hearing “detailing how the proposed tariffs will not achieve” the Trump administration’s stated “objectives” of curbing China’s allegedly unfair trade practices, he said. King argued successfully for the removal of 8528.72.64 from the List 1 tariffs when he testified at a May 2018 hearing that the duties would cause “disproportionate economic harm to millions of Americans.”

TCL’s fortunes are soaring in the U.S. TV business, reported IHS Markit last week (see 1906030058). Its Q1 unit shipments jumped 112 percent year over year, enabling the brand to leapfrog Samsung for top unit share, said IHS. Monday was the deadline for filing requests to appear at the List 4 hearings that begin June 17.

Vizio wants U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to implement a List 4 product exclusion process right away “so that U.S. companies who lead the way in U.S. technology and innovation are not harmed by the tariffs,” commented Jerry Huang, senior vice president-general counsel. The proposed tariffs would “punish” Vizio, an American company, “by forcing it to raise its prices while allowing foreign owned brands with manufacturing outside of China to undercut” Vizio, said Huang, in an obvious slap at LG, Samsung and Sony.

Vizio offers “some of the more feature-rich, affordable” TVs on the market, said Huang. A sizable portion of Vizio’s customer base comes from "working and middle-class backgrounds,” he said. Those are the types of customers “who can least afford increased prices and are the ones most likely to be priced out of the market if these tariffs are implemented,” he said.

The proposed List 4 tariffs include many consumer products “that will directly impact retailers and their consumers,” said National Retail Federation CEO Matthew Shay. “We are continuing to work with our members to identify the full list that they are concerned with.”

Shay wants to testify at the hearings about “the complexities of the retail supply chain,” including the difficulties of “shifting sourcing” of out China and “finding alternatives in a timely manner,” he said. “Many of our members have told us that they are working on alternate sourcing, but for some products and categories, there is no alternative. Where alternatives exist, it could take months, if not years, to make the necessary changes.”

North Carolina startup Powercharge fears that 25 percent List 4 tariffs on lithium-ion batteries imported from China under HTS 8507.60.00 would “literally put us out of business,” commented co-owner Brett Portaro. Tariffs would stop Powercharge in its tracks and scrap plans to hire 25 workers just as it’s about to start marketing smartphone accessories through major U.S. retailers, he said.

The accessories business is “extremely price sensitive,” said Portaro. “Some of our competition is larger and can absorb a 25% tariff due to the diversification of their business into other cell phone accessories that are not currently tariffed.”

The duties if imposed would “prevent us from getting any order from a major retailer and would literally cause us to lose money if we ever chose to sell on Amazon,” said Portaro. Powercharge has “a deal with Office Depot on the table right now that we are about to lose because of the tariff,” he said. “They will most likely go direct to China for their purchases which would mean the effect of the tariff would only hurt the American business, not China.” Office Depot didn’t comment.