US Tablet, Laptop Imports in 2019 Were Highest in 5 Years, Says ITC’s DataWeb
The U.S. imported 102.68 million laptops and tablets last year under the 8471.30.01 tariff subheading, a 4.9% unit increase from 2018, said Census Bureau figures accessed through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. It was the highest annual unit volume since 106.72 million were shipped here in 2015.
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Dollar value of imports of 8471.30.01 goods increased 0.8% to $41.6 billion, the highest yearly dollar volume since 2014, when $42.09 billion entered U.S. ports, said DataWeb. Q4 unit imports from all countries were 31.14 million, up 17.3% sequentially from Q3, and a 2.6% increase from Q4 2018. Dollar imports in Q4 were $11.62 billion, 6.9% higher than Q3, but a 2.1% decline from Q4 a year earlier.
Q4 opened seven weeks to the day after the Trump administration announced adding Chinese-sourced 8471.30.01 goods to the threat of Section 301 List 4B tariffs for Dec. 15 activation (see 1908130028). Yet DataWeb showed few discernable hints that importers used the time they had in Q4 to reduce their tariff exposure. The administration ultimately doused the List 4B threat after reaching the phase one trade accord with Beijing (see 1912130042).
The U.S. sourced 28.28 million laptops and tablets from China in Q4, a 14.1% increase from Q3 and a 3.2% rise from Q4 2018, said DataWeb. Though the increases arguably could be shown as evidence that importers ramped their Q4 sourcing activity to beat the tariffs, China was 90.8% of all 8471.30.01 imports in the quarter. That was roughly on par with its 90.3% share in Q3 a year earlier when tariffs weren’t yet in the picture. China provided 92.1% of all laptop and tablet imports for the year, 0.7 percentage points higher than its 2018 share.
The U.S. sources most of its non-Chinese supply from Vietnam and Taiwan, DataWeb shows. Vietnam accounted for 5.1% of 8471.30.01 imports in 2019, 0.6 percentage points lower than in 2018. Vietnam ceded share to Taiwan, which was at 1.8% in 2019, compared with 1.2% in 2018.
Taiwan shipped nearly 823,000 laptops and tablets to the U.S. in Q4, up 98.4% from Q3 and 135% higher than the 2018 quarter, said DataWeb. Those extraordinary increases again came at Vietnam’s expense. Though Vietnamese Q4 imports increased 36.1% from Q3 to 1.58 million, they were down 26.2% from Q4 2018.
Vietnam was a haven for low-end product in Q4, DataWeb shows. Its average import had $173.84 in customs value, well below the $368.68 value of the average Chinese product. Taiwan came in solidly at the high end. Its 823,000 laptops and tablets were worth an average $700.11 in Q4.