The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will extend exclusions on goods used to treat COVID-19 from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, it said in a notice posted on the agency's website. "In light of the rising spread and ongoing efforts to combat COVID-19, the U.S. Trade Representative has determined that maintaining or re-imposing additional duties on certain products subject to the action no longer is appropriate and that the application of additional duties to these products could impact U.S. preparedness to address COVID-19," it said.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will extend exclusions on goods used to treat COVID-19 from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, it said in a notice posted on the agency's website. “In light of the rising spread and ongoing efforts to combat COVID-19, the U.S. Trade Representative has determined that maintaining or re-imposing additional duties on certain products subject to the action no longer is appropriate and that the application of additional duties to these products could impact U.S. preparedness to address COVID-19,” it said.

The impact of the U.S. iPhone 12 launch was evident in the Census Bureau’s smartphone import data trends for October, as accessed through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. Apple’s Oct. 23 release of its first 5G-enabled flagship phone helped send October smartphone unit and dollar import volume soaring. The average October smartphone import was more than a third costlier than in September, though all metrics were noticeably lower than those of a year earlier, as 2020 has been a trying year for the category. U.S. importers sourced 17.49 million smartphones from all countries in October, up 17.2% from September but down 22.5% from October 2019, said DataWeb. October dollar imports spiked 59.3% over September's to $5.21 billion but were 24.1% lower than a year earlier. October smartphone imports were worth $298.43 on average, 36.3% higher than in September but 1.9% below the October 2019 average. China was the obvious beneficiary of the October smartphone import surge, with 83% share of all handsets shipped here in the month, compared with only 70.7% share in September, said DataWeb. Apple is known to be sourcing the iPhone 12 from Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory in China's Henan province. The company, notoriously protective of its proprietary sourcing information, didn’t respond to questions. U.S. importers sourced 14.51 million smartphones from China in October, 37.5% more than in September but 19.1% fewer than in October 2019, said DataWeb. The 104.15 million Chinese smartphones shipped here in the first 10 months were 73.4% of all handset imports to the U.S., slightly lower than its 74.3% share in the same 2019 period. China’s October smartphone import spike took a clear toll on Vietnam, which contributed 13.8% of all handset shipments to the U.S. in the month, down from its 23.9% share in September, said DataWeb. Vietnamese unit import volume of 2.41 million smartphones declined 32.3% from September and was down 35.9% from October 2019. Vietnam shipped just under 29 million smartphones to the U.S. in the year’s first 10 months, 20.4% of all handset imports to the U.S. in the January-to-October period, said DataWeb. The country’s significant stature in the smartphone category will bear watching as the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative convenes a Section 301 investigative hearing Dec. 29 into allegations of Vietnamese currency manipulation to the detriment of U.S. commercial interests. The threat of possible tariffs on Vietnamese imports looms prominently over the proceeding. Smartphones from China technically remain exposed to the threat of List 4B Section 301 tariffs still on the books, but the Trump administration postponed the List 4B duties indefinitely after reaching the phase one trade deal with China nearly a year ago (see 2001160022).

The deadline for comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative had already passed on Vietnam currency manipulation when the Treasury Department released its finding that Vietnam is a currency manipulator, and 24 trade groups are asking for the comment period to be reopened and the Dec. 29 hearing to be delayed. The groups that signed the Dec. 18 letter to USTR include the American Apparel and Footwear Association, the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. USTR did not immediately comment.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Dec. 14-20:

The impact of the U.S. iPhone 12 launch was evident in the Census Bureau’s smartphone import data trends for October, as accessed through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. Apple’s Oct. 23 release of its first 5G-enabled flagship phone helped send October smartphone unit and dollar import volume soaring. The average October smartphone import was more than a third costlier than in September, though all metrics were noticeably lower than those of a year earlier, as 2020 has been a trying year for the category. U.S. importers sourced 17.49 million smartphones from all countries in October, up 17.2% from September but down 22.5% from October 2019, said DataWeb. October dollar imports spiked 59.3% over September's to $5.21 billion but were 24.1% lower than a year earlier. October smartphone imports were worth $298.43 on average, 36.3% higher than in September but 1.9% below the October 2019 average. China was the obvious beneficiary of the October smartphone import surge, with 83% share of all handsets shipped here in the month, compared with only 70.7% share in September, said DataWeb. Apple is known to be sourcing the iPhone 12 from Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory in China's Henan province. The company, notoriously protective of its proprietary sourcing information, didn’t respond to questions. U.S. importers sourced 14.51 million smartphones from China in October, 37.5% more than in September but 19.1% fewer than in October 2019, said DataWeb. The 104.15 million Chinese smartphones shipped here in the first 10 months were 73.4% of all handset imports to the U.S., slightly lower than its 74.3% share in the same 2019 period. China’s October smartphone import spike took a clear toll on Vietnam, which contributed 13.8% of all handset shipments to the U.S. in the month, down from its 23.9% share in September, said DataWeb. Vietnamese unit import volume of 2.41 million smartphones declined 32.3% from September and was down 35.9% from October 2019. Vietnam shipped just under 29 million smartphones to the U.S. in the year’s first 10 months, 20.4% of all handset imports to the U.S. in the January-to-October period, said DataWeb. The country’s significant stature in the smartphone category will bear watching as the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative convenes a Section 301 investigative hearing Dec. 29 into allegations of Vietnamese currency manipulation to the detriment of U.S. commercial interests. The threat of possible tariffs on Vietnamese imports looms prominently over the proceeding. Smartphones from China technically remain exposed to the threat of List 4B Section 301 tariffs still on the books, but the Trump administration postponed the List 4B duties indefinitely after reaching the phase one trade deal with China nearly a year ago (see 2001160022).

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Dec. 14-18 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The impact of the U.S. iPhone 12 launch was evident in the Census Bureau’s smartphone import data trends for October, as accessed through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. Apple’s Oct. 23 release of its first 5G-enabled flagship phone helped send October smartphone unit and dollar import volume soaring. The average October smartphone import was more than a third costlier than in September, though all metrics were noticeably lower than those of a year earlier, as 2020 has been a trying year for the category.

Retail TV sell-through in the “32-inch size class” of sets was up 20% through the first nine months of 2020 “after being flat in 2019 vs 2018,” emailed NPD Vice-President-Industry Analysis Stephen Baker Wednesday. “The top 5 brands (in alphabetical order) are Hisense, Philips, Samsung, TCL and Vizio.” They collectively had only 58% of unit volume through the first three quarters because “this category has a very high percentage of factory brands and private label products,” said Baker. October TV imports with 30- to 35-inch screens had the highest growth among the smaller-screen categories, rising 106.7% from a year earlier to 1.05 million units (see 2012130001), 26.6% of them from Vietnam. Many in the CTA rank and file fear President Donald Trump may try rushing through tariffs on Vietnamese goods before Jan. 20 as a Trade Act Section 301 remedy for the Vietnam government’s alleged currency manipulation (see 2012160022).

CTA would be “extremely affected and disappointed” by a rush to impose Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on Vietnamese imports before President Donald Trump leaves office, President Gary Shapiro told us Wednesday. “Our industry has suffered, in the national interest in a sense, because of U.S. positions taken on China,” he said, and additional tariffs on goods from Vietnam would be an unexpected, secondary blow.