The $38 million in Trade Act Section 301 tariff costs iRobot incurred in 2019 inflicted a hit of 3 percentage points to its gross margin for the year, said CEO Colin Angle. IRobot assumes the List 3 tariff exclusion it landed April 22 on the robotic vacuum cleaners it sources from China (see 2004230045) will expire at the end of 2020, he said. The reinstatement of 25% tariffs on Chinese goods will result in a “similar contraction” to 2021 gross margin, he said. The stock closed 7.5% lower Wednesday at $79.35.

A recent executive order suspending Hong Kong's special trade status won't result in additional tariffs on goods from Hong Kong, a senior administration official said in a July 23 email. “The July 14, 2020, Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization does not provide for new U.S. tariffs on goods from Hong Kong,” the official said. “The Administration will continue to evaluate and adjust our policies as conditions warrant.”

The $38 million in Section 301 tariff costs iRobot incurred in 2019 inflicted a hit of three percentage points on its gross margin for the year, CEO Colin Angle said. IRobot assumes the List 3 tariff exclusion it landed in April on the robotic vacuum cleaners it sources from China will expire at the end of 2020, he said. The reinstatement of 25% tariffs on Chinese goods will result in a “similar contraction” to 2021 gross margin, he said. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer “made it quite explicit” in congressional testimony last month that any granted List 3 exemptions “would expire at the end of the year,” Angle said. Lighthizer’s testimony “is the most explicit guidance that we have been given,” he said July 22 following quarterly results.

Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, the ranking member on the Ways and Means Committee, said that incentives to move medicines, active pharmaceutical ingredients and medical supply manufacturing out of China and to the U.S. and “reliable trade partners” is something House Republicans would like to see as part of the next COVID-19 relief package.

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories from July 13-17 in case they were missed.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued another set of product exclusions from the fourth group of Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The new exclusions from the tariffs include "11 existing ten-digit HTSUS subheadings and 53 specially prepared product descriptions, which together respond to 242 separate exclusion requests," according to the notice. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Sept. 1, 2019, the date the fourth set of tariffs took effect. The exclusions will be in effect until Sept. 1.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced a new round of product exclusions for products on the fourth list of Section 301 tariffs on products from China. New subheading 9903.88.53 will be used for the new exclusions. The new set of exclusions are reflected in “11 existing ten-digit HTSUS subheadings and 53 specially prepared product descriptions, which together respond to 242 separate exclusion requests,” according to the notice.

Bipartisan legislation would direct the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to extend expiring exclusions on Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods for at least a year. Thursday's bill, sponsored by Rep. Jackie Walorski, an Indiana Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., would give USTR some discretion. It would exempt the agency from the extension requirement on any product deemed to be important to the Made in China 2025 industrial program or if extending the exclusions would cause “severe harm” to the U.S. USTR would have 15 days from enactment to give Ways and Means and the Senate Finance Committee "detailed justification" for any exemption. The practice has been to extend expiring tariff exclusions through a series of notice and comment rulemakings (see 2007150051). USTR didn’t comment Friday.

Bipartisan legislation would direct the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to extend expiring exclusions on Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods for at least a year. Thursday's bill, sponsored by Rep. Jackie Walorski, an Indiana Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., would give USTR some discretion. It would exempt the agency from the extension requirement on any product deemed to be important to the Made in China 2025 industrial program or if extending the exclusions would cause “severe harm” to the U.S. USTR would have 15 days from enactment to give Ways and Means and the Senate Finance Committee "detailed justification" for any exemption. The practice has been to extend expiring tariff exclusions through a series of notice and comment rulemakings (see 2007150051). USTR didn’t comment Friday.

Bipartisan legislation would direct the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to extend expiring exclusions on Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods for at least a year. Thursday's bill, sponsored by Rep. Jackie Walorski, an Indiana Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., would give USTR some discretion. It would exempt the agency from the extension requirement on any product deemed to be important to the Made in China 2025 industrial program or if extending the exclusions would cause “severe harm” to the U.S. USTR would have 15 days from enactment to give Ways and Means and the Senate Finance Committee "detailed justification" for any exemption. The practice has been to extend expiring tariff exclusions through a series of notice and comment rulemakings (see 2007150051). USTR didn’t comment Friday.