The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative notice on the increase in Section 301 tariffs for the third tranche of goods from China (see 1905080004) mentions that a new exclusion process will be coming for that group of products. The notice, which said that the tariffs will go from 10 percent to 25 percent for the third list of goods from China at 12:01 a.m. on May 10, also seems to indicate some differences from previous tariff implementation instructions on the timing.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is set to publish on May 9 a notice on the increase in Section 301 tariffs for the third tranche of goods from China. The tariffs will go from 10 percent to 25 percent for the third list of goods from China at 12:01 a.m. on May 10, the USTR said. That increase was previously delayed while negotiations with China were underway. China's Vice Premier Liu He will be in Washington for further discussions this week "to make a deal," President Donald Trump said in a May 8 tweet.

Industry reacted against President Donald Trump’s surprise tweets Sunday threatening to hike to 25 percent the Section 301 tariffs currently at 10 percent on $200 billion in Chinese imports, effective this Friday. The uproar overshadowed industry’s response to Trump’s accompanying threat to impose 25 percent tariffs “shortly” on $325 billion more in Chinese goods previously “untaxed.” That would cover virtually all remaining imports to the U.S. from China.

Industry reacted against President Donald Trump’s surprise tweets Sunday threatening to hike to 25 percent the Section 301 tariffs currently at 10 percent on $200 billion in Chinese imports, effective this Friday. The uproar overshadowed industry’s response to Trump’s accompanying threat to impose 25 percent tariffs “shortly” on $325 billion more in Chinese goods previously “untaxed.” That would cover virtually all remaining imports to the U.S. from China.

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 29 - May 3 in case they were missed.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is now saying it's not his stubbornness on getting Mexican and Canadian retaliatory tariffs lifted that stands in the way of the Senate ratifying the new NAFTA. He said he's looking for "any way of moving ahead," but added, "let’s just assume that Chuck Grassley said that we ought to go ahead, regardless of whether the tariffs come off, it isn't going to happen. ... You're never going to get the 51 votes through the United States Senate" in that scenario, he said.

Industry reacted with shock, fear and fury to President Donald Trump’s surprise tweet Sunday hiking to 25 percent the Section 301 tariffs currently at 10 percent on $200 billion in Chinese imports, effective Friday (see 1905050002). Late Monday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer confirmed his office would put out a Federal Register notice Tuesday mandating that the tariff increase would take effect 12:01 a.m. Friday. It dashed the hopes of many who said they thought Trump might be bluffing as a negotiating tactic.

While the Chinese have not levied tariffs on U.S. aircraft, the top manufactured good China imports from the U.S., that could change if President Donald Trump follows through on his May 5 threat to hike 10 percent tariffs to 25 percent, one expert believes. Edward Alden, a trade expert and professor at Western Washington University, said that the Chinese have been seriously negotiating for five months, and if the U.S. walks away, they will hunker down for a long, protracted trade war. They could levy tariffs on airplanes, increase customs hassles for those U.S. firms exporting goods to China and create geopolitical trouble for the U.S.

“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.