The May 10 hike to 25 percent in the List 3 Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports (see 1905060015) prompted iRobot Wednesday to raise its full-year 2019 estimate of the “direct tariff cost” to the company to a range between $35 million and $40 million. IRobot previously estimated it would take a hit of between $20 million and $25 million, based on the List 3 tariffs staying at 10 percent. Shares plunged 16.9 percent Wednesday, closing at $74.51.

CBP has assessed about $30.9 billion in duties under the major trade remedies started during the Trump administration as of July 24, according to CBP's trade statistics page. That includes $22.1 billion in duties from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The first tranche of Section 301 tariffs took effect on July 6, 2018 (see 1807050033); the second took effect on Aug. 23, 2018 (see 1808070046); and the third, on Sept. 24, 2018 (see 1809240015). CBP also has assessed about $6 billion under the Section 232 tariffs on steel and $1.9 billion under tariffs on aluminum. The Section 201 trade remedies on washing machines, washing machine parts and solar cells (see 1801230052), imposed Jan. 23, 2018, account for $933.2 million in assessed tariffs.

The May 10 hike to 25 percent in the List 3 Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports (see 1905060015) prompted iRobot Wednesday to raise its full-year 2019 estimate of the “direct tariff cost” to the company to a range between $35 million and $40 million. IRobot previously estimated it would take a hit of between $20 million and $25 million, based on the List 3 tariffs staying at 10 percent. Shares plunged 16.9 percent Wednesday, closing at $74.51.

Logitech management on a fiscal Q1 earnings call Tuesday credited the company's operations team for successfully mitigating the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports. But Logitech also said it has warned its U.S. supply chain of “selective" price increases to offset the higher costs of the List 3 tariffs hike to 25 percent from 10 percent that took effect May 10 (see 1905060015)

The number of investigations under the Enforce and Protect Act almost doubled in fiscal year 2018, CBP said in its annual report, and the agency was able to issue final determinations for 12 investigations that year; in fiscal year 2017, it finished only one. To conduct EAPA investigations, CBP has traveled to Thailand, Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Cambodia and the Philippines. During the year, it took interim measures in six ongoing EAPA investigations to collect antidumping and countervailing duties. The entire EAPA program prevented the evasion of $50 million in AD/CVD duties during the year, the agency said.

IHS Markit downgraded its forecast on 2019 flat-panel display area shipments, blaming U.S.-China trade tensions for the revision. It now expects shipments to grow 2.9 percent from last year to 227 million square meters (271.5 million square yards), down from its previous forecast of 5 percent growth.

Logitech management on a fiscal Q1 earnings call Tuesday credited the company's operations team for successfully mitigating the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports. But Logitech also said it has warned its U.S. supply chain of “selective" price increases to offset the higher costs of the List 3 tariffs hike to 25 percent from 10 percent that took effect May 10 (see 1905060015)

CHICAGO -- The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will provide information on what will happen to approved Section 301 exclusion requests beyond a year, said Arthur Tsao, associate general counsel at USTR, while speaking July 23 at the CBP Trade Symposium. "If the current trade actions continue to be in effect past those periods, USTR will issue additional guidance before the expiration of the one-year period," he said. The agency said something similar previously in a set of frequently asked questions (see 1906190035). Asked about the possibility of CBP extending the protest period for liquidated entries that involve products still being considered for exclusion requests (see 1905220063), CBP Chief-Entry Process and Duty Refunds Branch in the Office of Trade's Regulations and Rulings Division Gail Kan said the agency is unable to make a change because the timing requirements are statutory.

Rep. Joe Cunningham, a Democrat who beat a Republican incumbent in South Carolina, recently introduced a bill that would give Congress the ability to block Section 201 or 301 tariffs if they could muster veto-proof majorities. It would also require that Section 232 tariffs be approved by Congress within 60 days of a Commerce Department recommendation if they are to go into effect. The bill, which does not have any co-sponsors, includes a two-year retroactivity period for Section 232 tariffs, which would give Congress the ability to rescind steel and aluminum tariffs. “No President, Democratic or Republican, should be able to unilaterally impose tariffs without Congressional approval. No one wins in a trade war, and this legislation will allow Congress to play a more proactive role in trade policy,” Cunningham said in a press release announcing the bill earlier this month.

Xinhua, China's official state-run news agency, reported July 21 that some Chinese firms have requested that retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural goods be lifted, and have made inquiries with U.S. producers about purchasing those goods. The report did not say which commodities are being considered, or in what quantities. However, it noted that the U.S. recently "expressed willingness to encourage U.S. businesses to continue providing supplies for Chinese enterprises," a potential reference to Huawei, and that the government exempted 110 industrial products from Section 301 tariffs. President Donald Trump tweeted July 11 that "China is letting us down in that they have not been buying the agricultural products from our great Farmers that they said they would. Hopefully they will start soon!"