International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 22-26 in case they were missed.

Keeping in place permanently the temporary “tariff suspensions” on flat panels and assemblies that Element Electronics imports from China is “vital” to the workers who assemble finished LCD TVs in South Carolina, Element commented (login required) Tuesday in International Trade Commission docket 332-565. The 4.5 percent duties on LCD TV components Element sources under the 9013.80.90 and 8529.90.13 tariff lines were temporarily suspended in the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) Act that President Donald Trump signed into law Sept. 13 to promote U.S. production at companies that rely on small-volume imports. Element's comments were part of the review process for an ITC report to Congress due within year after the MTB's enactment summarizing the legislation’s impact to the U.S. economy. “Tariff inversion” in the U.S. TV sector “incentivizes production abroad,” said Element. The 4.5 percent duties put Element at a significant cost disadvantage to finished TVs from China assessed a 3.9 percent rate, it said. “To make matters worse,” importers of finished TVs from Mexico paid zero duty under the North American Free Trade Agreement, it said. “Since 2013, the US has imported on average over 17 million finished LCD TVs from Mexico per year (or about 46% of total US LCD TV imports). These duty free imports are a major source of competition for Element's US production facility.” The MTB duty suspension “has been a job-saving development that has gone a long way to level the playing field for Element's workers” in South Carolina, said Element. “lt is vital that the existing MTBs are made permanent to provide a permanent solution to the tariff inversion.” The company made many of the same arguments when it testified successfully last summer for the removal of Section 301 tariffs on 9013.80.90 and 8529.90.13 goods from China.

UPS, “like most other U.S. multinationals,” advocates for “fair and balanced trade,” CEO David Abney said on a Q1 earnings call April 25. The China-U.S. trade “uncertainty” is “prompting softer industry forecasts” in the Asia-Pacific region, he said. “We certainly encourage leaders of the two countries to find solutions that support increased two-way trade,” and also “assuring that many U.S. companies have access to export to China,” he said. Some UPS customers “have adjusted their supply chain” to mitigate the higher costs of the Section 301 tariffs and retaliatory Chinese duties, and to “adapt to changing trade dynamics,” he said. China economically “is still strong, maybe not as strong as in previous years,” he said. There are “a lot of developments” taking place in two-way trade between the U.S. and China, but also between “China and the rest of the world,” he said. That “sometimes gets lost in the China-U.S. discussions,” he said. “We think it gives us plenty of opportunities to focus and to apply our strategic imperatives” in e-commerce, he said. “We feel good about the economy for the rest of the year.”

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative included China for the 15th straight year on its priority watch list for intellectual property violations. USTR also elevated Saudi Arabia from the second-tier watch list and downgraded Canada and Colombia from priority to watch, in the annual special 301 report Thursday (see 1902080063).

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative included China for the 15th straight year on its priority watch list for intellectual property violations. USTR also elevated Saudi Arabia from the second-tier watch list and downgraded Canada and Colombia from priority to watch, in the annual special 301 report Thursday (see 1902080063).

Canada and Colombia were removed from the priority watch list for intellectual property violations, and Tajikistan moved off the watch list, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's annual review of countries' policies on patents, trade secrets, counterfeits and piracy. Saudi Arabia was moved up to the priority watch list because of deteriorating conditions there, including "rampant satellite and online piracy," a USTR official said April 25.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative included China for the 15th straight year on its priority watch list for intellectual property violations. USTR also elevated Saudi Arabia from the second-tier watch list and downgraded Canada and Colombia from priority to watch, in the annual special 301 report Thursday (see 1902080063).

UPS, “like most other U.S. multinationals,” advocates for “fair and balanced trade,” CEO David Abney said on a Q1 earnings call April 25. The China-U.S. trade “uncertainty” is “prompting softer industry forecasts” in the Asia-Pacific region, he said. “We certainly encourage leaders of the two countries to find solutions that support increased two-way trade,” and also “assuring that many U.S. companies have access to export to China,” he said. Some UPS customers “have adjusted their supply chain” to mitigate the higher costs of the Section 301 tariffs and retaliatory Chinese duties, and to “adapt to changing trade dynamics,” he said. China economically “is still strong, maybe not as strong as in previous years,” he said. There are “a lot of developments” taking place in two-way trade between the U.S. and China, but also between “China and the rest of the world,” he said. That “sometimes gets lost in the China-U.S. discussions,” he said. “We think it gives us plenty of opportunities to focus and to apply our strategic imperatives” in e-commerce, he said. “We feel good about the economy for the rest of the year.”

Though the Trump administration postponed indefinitely raising the10 percent tariffs on Chinese goods to 25 percent (see 1903010031), iRobot, even “at the 10 percent level,” anticipates incurring $20 million to $25 million in tariff costs for 2019, said Chief Financial Officer Alison Dean on a Q1 earnings call Wednesday. IRobot argued unsuccessfully last summer for removing duties on the finished vacuum cleaners it imports from China under the 8508.11.00 tariff line on grounds that the duties would hurt the company and that robotic vacuums aren't an “industrially significant technology in China.” IRobot raised prices Jan. 1 on its i7 and i7 Plus premium vacuums to offset the higher costs, said Dean. “If tariffs are increased at some point in 2019, we would likely increase our prices again to offset the incremental tariff costs incurred,” she said. “Should the tariffs be lifted altogether, we would expect to lower prices to their pre-tariff levels. Any change in tariffs would take time to implement, as we and our retailers work through channel inventory, and we provide any contractual price change notifications to our partners.” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. will step down the Section 301 tariffs and China the retaliatory duties in phases, with each side lifting the tariff at roughly the same time if they believe the other side is complying with a trade deal in good faith. He said the reductions will probably be done in tranches. "Over how long a period of time, I don't know," he said. "But there won't be a 100 percent reduction of tariffs on the day the agreement's signed." U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in recent congressional appearances refused to say publicly whether a deal hinges on lifting the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports or keeping them in place to force China's compliance (see 1903130036). To mitigate the impact of the current tariffs, iRobot is "moving some of our production outside of China and starting with some of our more easy-to-build products,” said CEO Colin Angle. “China is where we are doing our most advanced work right now.” The company hopes to have a Malaysian production line “running at the end of this year and have our first products coming off the line,” said Dean. It won’t be “meaningful in terms of how many units are being produced in 2019 and when we’ll actually sell those in market,” she said. Shares plunged 23 percent Wednesday, closing at $100.42, as Q1 revenue fell roughly 5 percent short of Wall Street expectations, though sales were up 7 percent year over year.

Though the Trump administration postponed indefinitely raising the10 percent tariffs on Chinese goods to 25 percent (see 1903010031), iRobot, even “at the 10 percent level,” anticipates incurring $20 million to $25 million in tariff costs for 2019, said Chief Financial Officer Alison Dean on a Q1 earnings call Wednesday. IRobot argued unsuccessfully last summer for removing duties on the finished vacuum cleaners it imports from China under the 8508.11.00 tariff line on grounds that the duties would hurt the company and that robotic vacuums aren't an “industrially significant technology in China.” IRobot raised prices Jan. 1 on its i7 and i7 Plus premium vacuums to offset the higher costs, said Dean. “If tariffs are increased at some point in 2019, we would likely increase our prices again to offset the incremental tariff costs incurred,” she said. “Should the tariffs be lifted altogether, we would expect to lower prices to their pre-tariff levels. Any change in tariffs would take time to implement, as we and our retailers work through channel inventory, and we provide any contractual price change notifications to our partners.” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. will step down the Section 301 tariffs and China the retaliatory duties in phases, with each side lifting the tariff at roughly the same time if they believe the other side is complying with a trade deal in good faith. He said the reductions will probably be done in tranches. "Over how long a period of time, I don't know," he said. "But there won't be a 100 percent reduction of tariffs on the day the agreement's signed." U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in recent congressional appearances refused to say publicly whether a deal hinges on lifting the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports or keeping them in place to force China's compliance (see 1903130036). To mitigate the impact of the current tariffs, iRobot is "moving some of our production outside of China and starting with some of our more easy-to-build products,” said CEO Colin Angle. “China is where we are doing our most advanced work right now.” The company hopes to have a Malaysian production line “running at the end of this year and have our first products coming off the line,” said Dean. It won’t be “meaningful in terms of how many units are being produced in 2019 and when we’ll actually sell those in market,” she said. Shares plunged 23 percent Wednesday, closing at $100.42, as Q1 revenue fell roughly 5 percent short of Wall Street expectations, though sales were up 7 percent year over year.