The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued its first set of product exclusions from the List 2 Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, said an agency notice Friday. Though virtually no tech products appeared on List 2, tech companies were monitoring the pace of the List 2 exclusion process for possible clues on how long exemptions might take for List 3, where tech had much more tariff exposure.

President Donald Trump appeared to put the kibosh on Apple’s requests for List 3 Section 301 tariff exclusions on Chinese imports of graphics processing modules, power supplies, heat sinks and a dozen other types of components for the Mac Pro desktop due this fall. Tweeted Trump Friday: “Apple will not be given Tariff waiver, or relief, for Mac Pro parts that are made in China. Make them in the USA, no Tariffs!” There are “no other sources” outside China “for this proprietary, Apple-designed component,” said Apple in each of the 15 product exclusion requests it filed July 18, as searchable Thursday on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative public docket. “This product is a component of a consumer electronic device,” said Apple. “It is not strategically important or related to ‘Made in China 2025' or other Chinese industrial programs.” Public responses in support or opposition to the exclusion requests are due Aug. 1, and Apple had few backers among those who weighed in with an opinion through Friday. “USTR should not set a harmful precedent of exempting companies from tariffs that move jobs to an overt adversary of the United States,” commented Gregory Lewandowski on Apple’s request for tariff exclusions on Mac Pro graphics processing modules. “This is absolute garbage,” commented Logan Marotz of I.E. Productions. “We cannot continue to bend to the will of these companies. They knew the possible consequences of their actions by moving their assembly factories over seas. Tough luck, but this is the game they play.” Apple reportedly is shifting Mac Pro assembly to a contract manufacturer near Shanghai; that it's seeking tariff exclusions on imported parts suggests it's still doing final assembly in Texas, as it did with previous generations of Mac Pro desktops. Apple didn’t comment Friday, nor did USTR on Trump's tweet. Trump also targeted French President Emmanuel Macron Friday and France's initiation of a digital service tax, on which USTR launched a Section 301 investigation July 10. "France just put a digital tax on our great American technology companies," tweeted Trump. "If anybody taxes them, it should be their home Country, the USA. We will announce a substantial reciprocal action on Macron’s foolishness shortly. I’ve always said American wine is better than French wine!"

President Donald Trump appeared to put the kibosh on Apple’s requests for List 3 Section 301 tariff exclusions on Chinese imports of graphics processing modules, power supplies, heat sinks and a dozen other types of components for the Mac Pro desktop due this fall. Tweeted Trump Friday: “Apple will not be given Tariff waiver, or relief, for Mac Pro parts that are made in China. Make them in the USA, no Tariffs!” There are “no other sources” outside China “for this proprietary, Apple-designed component,” said Apple in each of the 15 product exclusion requests it filed July 18, as searchable Thursday on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative public docket. “This product is a component of a consumer electronic device,” said Apple. “It is not strategically important or related to ‘Made in China 2025' or other Chinese industrial programs.” Public responses in support or opposition to the exclusion requests are due Aug. 1, and Apple had few backers among those who weighed in with an opinion through Friday. “USTR should not set a harmful precedent of exempting companies from tariffs that move jobs to an overt adversary of the United States,” commented Gregory Lewandowski on Apple’s request for tariff exclusions on Mac Pro graphics processing modules. “This is absolute garbage,” commented Logan Marotz of I.E. Productions. “We cannot continue to bend to the will of these companies. They knew the possible consequences of their actions by moving their assembly factories over seas. Tough luck, but this is the game they play.” Apple reportedly is shifting Mac Pro assembly to a contract manufacturer near Shanghai; that it's seeking tariff exclusions on imported parts suggests it's still doing final assembly in Texas, as it did with previous generations of Mac Pro desktops. Apple didn’t comment Friday, nor did USTR on Trump's tweet. Trump also targeted French President Emmanuel Macron Friday and France's initiation of a digital service tax, on which USTR launched a Section 301 investigation July 10. "France just put a digital tax on our great American technology companies," tweeted Trump. "If anybody taxes them, it should be their home Country, the USA. We will announce a substantial reciprocal action on Macron’s foolishness shortly. I’ve always said American wine is better than French wine!"

The Court of International Trade will allow Moen to end its lawsuit over what the company said were misclassified showerheads despite the Department of Justice's objections, CIT said in a July 26 ruling. Moen, which sued CBP in 2015 over the classification of the goods, filed a motion to dismiss because the goods at issue are now subject to the Section 301 25 percent tariffs on imports from China. The DOJ fought the motion because of the already expended time and resources and because Moen will "likely litigate the correct classification of its showerheads if and when goods classifiable under its claimed tariff provision are no longer subject to the 301 duties.”

President Donald Trump appeared to put the kibosh on Apple’s requests for List 3 Section 301 tariff exclusions on Chinese imports of graphics processing modules, power supplies, heat sinks and a dozen other types of components for the Mac Pro desktop due this fall. Tweeted Trump Friday: “Apple will not be given Tariff waiver, or relief, for Mac Pro parts that are made in China. Make them in the USA, no Tariffs!” There are “no other sources” outside China “for this proprietary, Apple-designed component,” said Apple in each of the 15 product exclusion requests it filed July 18, as searchable Thursday on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative public docket. “This product is a component of a consumer electronic device,” said Apple. “It is not strategically important or related to ‘Made in China 2025' or other Chinese industrial programs.” Public responses in support or opposition to the exclusion requests are due Aug. 1, and Apple had few backers among those who weighed in with an opinion through Friday. “USTR should not set a harmful precedent of exempting companies from tariffs that move jobs to an overt adversary of the United States,” commented Gregory Lewandowski on Apple’s request for tariff exclusions on Mac Pro graphics processing modules. “This is absolute garbage,” commented Logan Marotz of I.E. Productions. “We cannot continue to bend to the will of these companies. They knew the possible consequences of their actions by moving their assembly factories over seas. Tough luck, but this is the game they play.” Apple reportedly is shifting Mac Pro assembly to a contract manufacturer near Shanghai; that it's seeking tariff exclusions on imported parts suggests it's still doing final assembly in Texas, as it did with previous generations of Mac Pro desktops. Apple didn’t comment Friday, nor did USTR on Trump's tweet. Trump also targeted French President Emmanuel Macron Friday and France's initiation of a digital service tax, on which USTR launched a Section 301 investigation July 10. "France just put a digital tax on our great American technology companies," tweeted Trump. "If anybody taxes them, it should be their home Country, the USA. We will announce a substantial reciprocal action on Macron’s foolishness shortly. I’ve always said American wine is better than French wine!"

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is publishing its first list of product exclusions from the second tranche of $16 billion in Section 301 tariffs on China (see 1808150016). This list of exclusions includes 69 subsets of tariff numbers in chapters 39, 84, 85, 86, 87 and 90. The new exclusions take effect retroactively from Aug. 23, 2018, when the $16 billion in tariffs originally entered into force, and will remain for one year following publication of USTR’s notice. USTR is creating Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 9903.88.12 for the new set of exclusions.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued its first set of product exclusions from the second group of Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. Newly exempt from the tariffs are "69 specially prepared product descriptions." The exclusions cover 292 separate requests, according to the notice. The product exclusions apply retroactively to Aug. 23, 2018, the date the second set of tariffs took effect, and will remain in effect until one year after the notice is published.

President Donald Trump tweeted in the morning July 26 that the U.S. would "announce a substantial reciprocal action on Macron’s foolishness shortly. I’ve always said American wine is better than French wine!" Trump, who was angry about the digital services tax France put on what he called "our great American technologies companies," reportedly does not drink alcohol. Later in the day, a White House spokesman issued a statement that said: “The United States is extremely disappointed by France’s decision to adopt a digital services tax at the expense of U.S. companies and workers. France’s unilateral measure appears to target innovative U.S. technology firms that provide services in distinct sectors of the economy. It also demonstrates France’s lack of commitment to the ongoing [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)] negotiations. The Trump Administration has consistently stated that it will not sit idly by and tolerate discrimination against U.S.-based firms. The U.S. Trade Representative has already launched a Section 301 investigation into France’s digital services tax, and the Administration is looking closely at all other policy tools.” Wine was already on the proposed tariff list to compensate for Airbus subsidies (see 1904090031).

President Donald Trump appeared to put the kibosh on Apple’s requests for List 3 Section 301 tariff exclusions on Chinese imports of graphics processing modules, power supplies, heat sinks and a dozen other types of components for the Mac Pro desktop due this fall. Tweeted Trump on July 26: “Apple will not be given Tariff waiver, or relief, for Mac Pro parts that are made in China. Make them in the USA, no Tariffs!” There are “no other sources” outside China “for this proprietary, Apple-designed component,” Apple said in each of the 15 product exclusion requests it filed July 18, as searchable on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative public docket. “This product is a component of a consumer electronic device,” Apple said. “It is not strategically important or related to ‘Made in China 2025' or other Chinese industrial programs.” Public responses in support or opposition to the exclusion requests are due Aug. 1, and Apple had few backers among those who weighed in with an opinion as of July 26. “The USTR should not set a harmful precedent of exempting companies from tariffs that move jobs to an overt adversary of the United States,” commented Gregory Lewandowski on Apple’s request for tariff exclusions on Mac Pro graphics processing modules. “This is absolute garbage,” commented Logan Marotz. “We cannot continue to bend to the will of these companies. They knew the possible consequences of their actions by moving their assembly factories over seas. Tough luck, but this is the game they play.” Apple didn’t comment, nor did USTR.

Higher Q1 consumer smart TV adoption was the “unintended consequence of the U.S.-China trade dispute,” with the Roku TV operating system the big winner, said IHS Markit Wednesday.