GoPro remains "on track" to begin "ramping" its "U.S.-bound" action-camera production this quarter in Guadalajara, Mexico, as a proactive hedge against possible future Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods, said Chief Financial Officer Brian McGee on a Q1 call Thursday evening. GoPro has no current exposure to the three rounds of tariffs imposed since July but wanted protection anyway against new duties, he said.

GoPro remains "on track" to begin "ramping" its "U.S.-bound" action-camera production this quarter in Guadalajara, Mexico, as a proactive hedge against possible future Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods, said Chief Financial Officer Brian McGee on a Q1 call Thursday evening. GoPro has no current exposure to the three rounds of tariffs imposed since July but wanted protection anyway against new duties, he said.

Sharp Home Electronics, the U.S. sales and marketing subsidiary, based in New Jersey, of Japan-based parent Sharp, is targeting September for a return to the U.S. market for Sharp-built and branded TVs, Peter Weedfald, senior vice president-sales and brand marketing, told us Friday. Weedfald outlined those plans following Sharp's crisp 62-word announcement Wednesday of a new partnership with Hisense.

President Donald Trump started May 13 threatening China that if it retaliates against the latest U.S. Section 301 tariffs, "it will only get worse!" but late in the afternoon reminded White House reporters that he'd be meeting with President Xi Jinping at the G-20, and, he added, "that will be probably a very fruitful meeting."

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has published a list of "essentially all products not currently covered" by Section 301 tariffs, with the exception of pharmaceuticals, certain chemicals made into prescription drugs, rare earth minerals and critical minerals. The office is seeking public comment on hiking tariffs on these goods, which represented approximately $300 billion in imports last year.

GoPro remains "on track" to begin "ramping" its "U.S.-bound" action-camera production this quarter in Guadalajara, Mexico, as a proactive hedge against possible future Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods, Chief Financial Officer Brian McGee said on a Q1 earnings call May 9. GoPro has no current exposure to the three rounds of tariffs imposed since July, but wanted protection anyway against new duties, he said. Guadalajara's production ramp will "support" U.S. sales beginning in Q3, McGee said. "We expect most of our U.S.-bound cameras will be in production in Mexico in the second half of 2019." GoPro's decision to shift production from China to Mexico for most cameras destined for U.S. import "supports our goal to insulate us against possible tariffs, as well as recognize some cost-saving and efficiencies," he said. GoPro says it's keeping production of non-U.S. cameras in China because it's an important strategic hub and the Chinese consumer market loves the product.

The Southern Shrimp Alliance welcomes the hike to 25 percent on List 3 of the Section 301 tariffs, because, it notes, the 10 percent tariff only reduced imports of frozen breaded shrimp by 22 percent. The alliance said that there was $115 million worth of Chinese breaded shrimp imported in the U.S. from October to February, and that's virtually the same volume of imports as in 2017. Nearly all other frozen shrimp is subject to substantial antidumping duties, the alliance said. But breaded shrimp "is not subject to antidumping dutiesand prior to September 24th, importers paid no duties on any breaded shrimp shipped from China."

The National Council of Textile Organizations complained that finished Chinese textile home furnishings and apparel don't face Section 301 tariffs yet, while immediate inputs for U.S. mills, such as yarn and fabrics, will be taxed at 25 percent. “Chinese imports of finished goods into the U.S. market have the most significant impact on domestic textile and apparel production, investment and jobs. In order to address the crisis, we need to get to the very heart of the problem," NCTO CEO Kim Glas said. The group said that 93.5 percent of Chinese textile exports to the U.S. are consumer goods, not inputs.

Importers have some options to preserve refunds on entries subject to Section 232 or Section 301 tariffs while awaiting a decision on exclusion requests, a CBP official said during a May 9 conference call. An importer can request an extension to the liquidation, the official said. Importers also can file a protest after liquidation and "provide information that the exclusion has been applied for but not granted," the official said. If a protest period expires after liquidation and an exclusion is granted, "CBP does not have any legal mechanisms to provide refunds of duties after the protest period closes," he said. CBP recommends "that importers pay close attention to the liquidation dates" for entries that are subject to the tariffs but could receive an exclusion, the official said.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is publishing its latest list of product exclusions from the first tranche of $34 billion in Section 301 tariffs on China (see 1905090067). This fourth list of exclusions includes full tariff schedule subheadings, as well as 35 subsets of tariff numbers in chapters 84, 85 and 90. The new exclusions take effect retroactively from July 6, 2018, when the $34 billion in tariffs originally entered into force, and will remain for one year following publication of USTR’s notice.