The FCC approved a declaratory ruling and order designed to speed the deployment of small cells and 5G across the U.S. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, whose vote had been in doubt (see 1809200007), partially dissented and partially concurred Wednesday.
The FCC approved a declaratory ruling and order designed to speed the deployment of small cells and 5G across the U.S. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, whose vote had been in doubt (see 1809200007), partially dissented and partially concurred Wednesday.
The Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports that took effect Monday (see 1809240011) will cause “sticker shock” for consumers and harm small businesses, the owner of an independent electronics and appliance store told a free-trade event in Washington Tuesday. “We couldn’t be more discouraged by this ongoing trade war and what it means for our family owned company that has been in business for more than 70 years,” said Ron Romero, owner of Schaefer’s TV and Appliance in Lincoln, Nebraska, according to the National Retail Federation, which organized the Trade Builds America forum with several other groups. “We were only given a week’s notice in some cases to prepare for this latest tariff onslaught that couldn’t have come at a worse time as we approach the holiday shopping season,” NRF quoted Romero as saying. Most of the appliances Romero sells “are assembled by domestic manufacturers but rely on imported components that are being hit by tariffs,” he said. “It simply doesn’t make sense why Washington is making it more expensive to produce goods here in the United States. That will only mean higher costs for American families and small businesses like mine.”
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept.17-21 in case they were missed.
As Section 301 tariffs took effect Monday on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, including duties the tech industry fought unsuccessfully to defeat on printed circuit assemblies, networking equipment and other goods, CTA fell silent about what it might do about the duties that it said a week ago “run afoul” of the 1974 Trade Act (see 1809180020). With China retaliating Monday with tariffs of its own on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods, observers were watching to see if President Donald Trump makes good on his threat to “immediately pursue” a fourth tranche of tariffs on $267 billion worth of additional Chinese imports as a countermeasure.
Two U.S. manufacturers seek the imposition of new antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum wire and cable from China, they said in a petition filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission Sept. 21. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CV duty orders and the assessment of AD and CV duties on importers.
Customs brokers this week will be lobbying congressional leaders to press the Department of the Treasury and CBP to change the proposed rule that excludes excise taxes from drawback, and will be asking members to co-sponsor the Customs Business Fairness Act (see 1712180053). The act, H.R. 4657, would change bankruptcy law so that customs brokers are not subject to clawback on duties advanced to CBP after a client declares bankruptcy.
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 1815 on Sept. 21, containing 1,230 Automated Broker Interface records and 306 harmonized tariff records, it said in a CSMS message. This update includes modifications related to the imposition of the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs on China (see 1809210026), as well as changes to Chapter 63 related to a new subheading for bed nets. The update also includes some updates related to the enactment of H.R. 4318, the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Act of 2018 (see 1809140004). "Please be aware that only a portion of the records have been added thus far, and have been included in this update. This effort is ongoing and will continue until all changes have been completed," CBP said. The MTB changes are effective Oct. 13.
On the first day of tariff collection for the third phase of the U.S.-China trade war, another 5,745 products became subject to 10 percent higher levies, with the threat of an additional 15 percent levy on those products following in a little more than three months.
With the “great news” that Element Electronics persuaded the Trump administration to remove LCD panels and motherboards under the 9013.80.90 and 8529.90.13 line items from the third tranche of Trade Act Section 301 tariffs set to take effect Monday (see 1809180020), Element’s Winnsboro, South Carolina, LCD TV assembly factory “will remain open!” it emailed retail customers Walmart and Target Tuesday. “Thanks again for supporting Element -- the only major television brand assembling TVs in America.” Element threatened to shutter the factory and terminate the remaining 125 jobs there if tariffs on the components it sources from China had gone through because the prohibitively higher costs would have forced the company to import finished TVs from China rather than assemble them in Winnsboro (see 1809130047). "We are working on plans now," Element General Counsel David Baer told us Thursday when asked if the company will restore the Winnsboro workforce to its pre-tariff levels of 300-plus employees. Winnsboro sustained no serious flooding or damage from Florence, and "everyone is safe," though "we got a bunch of rain," said Baer.