China Still Dominant Source for Tablets, but Vietnam Rising, Says DataWeb
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S6, released for sale Friday and marked on the packaging as a product of Vietnam, typifies the growing volume of Vietnamese-sourced tablets and laptops imported to the U.S. under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule’s 8471.30.01 subheading. Though the overwhelming majority of those goods continue to originate from China, Vietnam is emerging as a more important country of origin, said Census Bureau trade data accessed Monday through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool.
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The U.S. imported 97.9 million units of HTS 8471.30.01 goods from all countries last year, 91.4 percent of them from China, said DataWeb. That was well above the 75 percent threshold the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative set as the basis for deferring tablets and laptops, among other consumer tech goods like smartphones, set-top boxes and videogame consoles, from Section 301 tariff exposure until Dec. 15 (see 1908150005).
Even with USTR's Section 301 investigation well more than a year old and its overriding goal of convincing U.S. importers to source their goods from elsewhere, Chinese tablet and laptop imports are still rising. Trade data will bear watching to detect any significant shifts in sourcing activity with the 15 percent tariffs on tablets and laptops due to take effect in about 90 days. The U.S. imported 50.5 million units from China year to date through July, 92.6 percent of HTS 8471.30.01 goods shipped here from all countries and a 9.8 percent increase January-July 2018, said DataWeb.
Vietnam, though still a relatively small player, shipped tablets and laptops here at a more-rapid pace. Its 2.8 million units in 2019's first seven months were a 13 percent increase from the same 2018 period, said DataWeb. Vietnamese goods were 5.2 percent of all U.S. tablet and laptop imports year to date, up from 5 percent a year earlier, it said.
Notwithstanding the Galaxy Tab S6's starting $649 price, Vietnam remains a haven for commodity-priced goods compared with China, though the custom value of the Vietnamese imports is rising, as is the unit volume. The U.S. imported HTS 8471.30.01 goods from Vietnam with an average value of $173.26 in January-July, a 28 percent increase from 2018, said DataWeb. The average Chinese import had a $441.91 customs value, nearly three times higher than that of the Vietnamese import, but the Chinese good's average was 2.9 percent lower than that of a year earlier.