Former Monster and Beats by Dr. Dre executive Deena Ghazarian launched an electronics accessories line with a design bent Wednesday. Austere will hit stores in July with audio and video cables, power protection modules and a spray cleaner for TVs and other screen-based products, in a launch targeted to home theater, Ghazarian told us.

Quartz countertops imported from China and cut from quartz slabs from the U.S. are considered to be of U.S. origin, CBP said in a April 25 ruling. The ruling comes at the request of idX Corporation, which imports the cut and polished countertops into the U.S. Both the unfinished slabs and the finished countertops are classified under subheading 6810.99.00, as “Articles of … artificial stone, whether or not reinforced: Other: Other.” That subheading is included in the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs on goods from China.

One member of each party from the House and Senate have joined together on a letter to the U.S. trade representative about exclusions for Section 301, and how the process for List 3 might be expedited. The letter, sent June 12 by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.; Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind.; Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.; and Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., asks USTR if the office needs more resources to get through all the requests. They also asked that when requests are granted, relief is retroactive to September 2018, not just when the tariff climbed from 10 percent to 25 percent. "As we near the one-year mark of the application of tariffs on Chinese imports included on Lists 1 and 2, we anticipate your office will see the value in automatically granting renewed exclusions for products which had already received an exclusion," they wrote.

CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 1911 on June 11, containing 4 Automated Broker Interface records and 1 Harmonized Tariff Schedule record, it said in a CSMS message. The update includes adjustments required by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's announcement of new exemptions from Section 301 tariffs on China (see 1906030038). Modifications required by the verification of the 2019 HTS are included as well.

CTA members have identified 139 “line items for technology sector products” they want removed from List 4 of the proposed Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports, said the association in comments dated Monday and posted Tuesday in docket USTR-2019-0004. “The annual import value from China of those items alone totals over $167 billion, over half of the entire value of the products on List 4.”

The FCC received Office of Management and Budget Paperwork Reduction Act approval for its radio incubator program and is now accepting applications, said a Media Bureau public notice in Tuesday's Daily Digest and on docket 17-289. “Each incubation proposal must be approved by the Bureau in advance in order for the proposed relationship to qualify under the program,” the PN said. “The Bureau is also releasing updated versions of the instructions for FCC Forms 314, 315, and 301 to provide guidance for those seeking to file an incubation proposal as part of an application for an assignment, transfer of control, or new construction permit.” Entities to be incubated must be under a revenue cap and must certify they “would not be able to purchase a radio station or continue operating its struggling station without the support that the proposed incubation relationship will provide,” the PN said. After successful incubation relationship, the incubating entity will be eligible for a “reward waiver” of the local radio ownership rule in the same market as the incubation or a comparable one, the PN said. That comparable market provision is the subject of a challenge from the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters that was heard in the 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals later Tuesday (see 1906110073).

A newer high resolution format is adding movies, even as apart from Amazon and Netflix it lacks wide distribution, the 8K Display Summit was told in New York Tuesday. The coming fourth tranche of tariffs on Chinese products will affect a wider array consumer tech than past versions, attendees also were told.

A newer high resolution format is adding movies, even as apart from Amazon and Netflix it lacks wide distribution, the 8K Display Summit was told in New York Tuesday. The coming fourth tranche of tariffs on Chinese products will affect a wider array consumer tech than past versions, attendees also were told.

The Trump administration’s threat to levy List 4 Section 301 tariffs of up to 25 percent on Chinese-made TVs and all other goods not previously dutied (see 1905140025) is “much broader, much deeper and much less likely to be resolved with a quick deal” than the Mexican import tariff threat, Bob O’Brien, president of Display Supply Chain Consultants, told the 8K Display Summit Tuesday. “I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better with respect to China.”

Consumer Technology Association members have identified 139 “line items for technology sector products” they want removed from List 4 of the proposed Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports, the association said in comments dated June 10 in docket USTR-2019-0004. “The annual import value from China of those items alone totals over $167 billion, over half of the entire value of the products on List 4,” CTA said.