“Organic sales” in DowDuPont’s Electronics & Imaging sector declined 6 percent in Q1 from “soft smartphone demand,” said Marc Doyle, chief operating officer-specialty products, on an earnings call Thursday. Smartphone materials are about 25 percent of the sector’s sales, “and while we sell to all smartphone providers, our portfolio is more exposed to premium models.” which were estimated to have declined “in the high teens” for the quarter, he said. “We continue to expect a rebound in the second half, driven by the seasonal introduction of new models with upgraded features and offerings, including higher penetration of OLED screens and initial models with 5G capability both benefiting our sales.” It “obviously would be nice to resolve” the Section 301 tariff issue because that “would play out very nicely over the next few years for us in China,” said CEO Edward Breen. “I'm a big believer that consumer confidence will sit pretty bad by that issue” if not resolved, he said.
Universal Electronics Inc. (UEI) is on track to move from alpha to beta testing of its Nevo Butler smart home hub late this quarter, with plans for a market introduction by year-end, said CEO Paul Arling on the company’s Thursday Q1 earnings call. The company is “actively engaged” with several tier one accounts and eyes commercial deployment in early 2020, “if not sooner,” he said.
China will still send a delegation to meet with U.S. negotiators on a possible deal to resolve trade issues between the two countries, despite an announcement by President Donald Trump on May 5 to increase Section 301 tariffs against the country, according to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman. Trump tweeted that the U.S. will increase the current 10 percent tariff on $200 billion in goods to 25 percent on May 10, and may impose additional Section 301 tariffs on over $300 billion in Chinese exports.
After a day when the stock markets responded as if President Donald Trump's May 5 tweet about raising tariffs on Chinese goods was an empty threat, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told reporters from a number of national outlets that the new tariff rate -- jumping from the current 10 percent to 25 percent -- would take effect at 12:01 a.m. on May 10.
President Donald Trump will hike the List 3 Section 301 tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent, effective Friday, on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, he tweeted Sunday. The increase originally was to have taken effect Jan. 1, but Trump twice postponed the hike since December, citing progress with Chinese negotiators to strike a comprehensive trade deal. The talks continue with the Chinese, but “too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate,” he said. “No!”
The third tranche of Section 301 tariffs on goods from China will go up to 25 percent on May 10, President Donald Trump tweeted on May 5. "For 10 months, China has been paying Tariffs to the USA of 25% on 50 Billion Dollars of High Tech, and 10% on 200 Billion Dollars of other goods," he said. "These payments are partially responsible for our great economic results. The 10% will go up to 25% on Friday. " That increase was previously set to take place at the beginning of 2019, but was pushed back as the U.S. and China negotiated.
A bill was reintroduced that would require Congressional approval for any White-House initiated tariff change -- effectively curtailing future Section 201, 301 and Section 232 tariffs, as well as a not-yet-used authority to raise tariffs on all goods from a country where we run a trade deficit.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told one Democrat the agency would be starting a Section 301 exclusion process for the largest, third tranche of goods subject to tariffs by the end of April (see 1905020030), but he avoided committing to finishing evaluations of pending exclusions once tariffs are lifted. "USTR will consider all options in the event tariff rates are modified," he wrote to Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind. No exclusion process has launched, even though the April 30 target has passed. USTR's spokeswoman did not respond to a question by press time about when it might launch. All of Lighthizer's responses were posted April 24 as an addendum to the February hearing's transcript.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said there will be an exclusion process for the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs on products from China and that the agency has "begun preparations to launch a process by the end of the month." His comment came in written replies submitted in recent weeks to Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., after a House Ways and Means Committee appearance in February. He had previously argued no exclusions were needed for the 10 percent tariffs despite urging from Congress.
The International Trade Commission recently posted Revision 3 to the 2019 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The new version includes changes necessary to implement the latest group of exemptions from Section 301 tariffs on certain products from China, as announced by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in a notice issued April 18 (see 1904170038). That includes the addition of new subheading 9903.88.07 for goods that qualify for the exemption, as well as new paragraph (j) of Note 20 to subchapter III of chapter 99, which lists goods covered by the new exemptions.