The U.S. subsidiary of a prominent Japanese antenna manufacturer serving the big five U.S. automakers wants the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to exclude Chinese imports of automotive antenna components from the list of proposed 25 percent Trade Act Section 301 tariffs because the duties would cause the subsidiary “economic hardship,” it said in comments posted Friday in docket USTR-2018-0018. Yokowo Manufacturing of America wants Harmonized Tariff Schedule product code 8529.10.91 removed from the list of proposed duties released June 15 (see 1806150030) -- the second tranche of Trump administration tariffs on which comments are due Monday and a public hearing is set to take place Tuesday.

The Trump administration’s July 10 proposal to impose 10 percent Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports of LCD panels and motherboards (see 1807110034) “has already resulted in reduced workforce and production” at the Winnsboro, South Carolina, plant where Element Electronics assembles LCD TVs, the company told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in comments filed and posted Friday in docket USTR-2018-0026. At "peak," Winnsboro numbered more than 325 workers, but "today, with the threat of a 10 percent duty, employment has been reduced to 136 workers and is quickly declining," said David Baer, Element's general counsel.

Maritime and shipping container companies, a major trucking company and companies big and small whose livelihoods depend on Chinese imports will testify across a day and a half of hearings to help the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative determine which imports should be taxed to bring the list up to $50 billion in goods (see 1806210029). So far, $34 billion worth of imports are being taxed at 25 percent (see 1806150003). The USTR released a schedule of witnesses for the hearings, which will begin July 24 at 9:30 a.m. at the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington.

Consumer electronics wearables will be one of six categories of sports and activity gear included in a “global product labeling database” that the Sports & Fitness Industry Association and the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry will partner on in about a month, said Alli Schulman, SFIA coordinator-communications and marketing, on a Wednesday webinar to mobilize member company opposition to proposed 10 percent Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on sports equipment and accessories (see 1807180058). The database will “provide labeling requirements for 49 countries around the world." More details will be disclosed in an SFIA webinar Aug. 2, she said.

Consumer electronics wearables will be one of six categories of sports and activity gear included in a “global product labeling database” that the Sports & Fitness Industry Association and the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry will partner on in about a month, said Alli Schulman, SFIA coordinator-communications and marketing, on a Wednesday webinar to mobilize member company opposition to proposed 10 percent Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on sports equipment and accessories (see 1807180058). The database will “provide labeling requirements for 49 countries around the world." More details will be disclosed in an SFIA webinar Aug. 2, she said.

The “massive influx” of Chinese-sourced computers and electronics to the U.S. has been the “primary driver of the bilateral trade deficit” between those countries, said a U.S-China Economic and Security Review Commission report Thursday. It mentioned neither the Trump administration’s implemented or proposed Trade Act Section 301 tariffs against China nor Chinese retaliatory measures taken or threatened against the U.S.

Consumer electronics wearables will be one of six categories of sports and activity gear included in a “global product labeling database” that the Sports & Fitness Industry Association and the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry will partner on in about a month, said Alli Schulman, SFIA coordinator-communications and marketing, on a July 18 webinar to mobilize member company opposition to proposed 10 percent Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on sports equipment and accessories (see 1807190003). The database will “provide labeling requirements for 49 countries around the world." More details will be disclosed in an SFIA webinar Aug. 2, she said.

Goods under the $800 de minimis level are not subject to Section 232 tariffs, a CBP spokesperson said July 18. CBP previously said that tariffs don't apply to de minimis shipments covered under the Section 301 tariffs (see 1807050033). The agency recently ruled against the use of foreign-trade zones to get around limits on de minimis entries (see 1807180022).

It’s “difficult to read the tea leaves,” or “glean” any lessons, from why the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative removed certain tariff lines from the initial list of Section 301 tariffs, said David Cohen, a lawyer with Sandler Travis, during Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) webinar July 18. The USTR on June 15 announced it deleted 40 percent of the product lines from its first list of proposed Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports (see 1806150003). The rationale behind those changes isn't apparent, he said.

It’s “difficult to read the tea leaves,” or “glean” any lessons, from why the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative deleted 40 percent of the product lines from its first list of proposed Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports when on June 15 it announced the duties it was actually putting into effect July 6 (see 1806150030), David Cohen, a trade expert with Sandler Travis, told a Sports & Fitness Industry Association webinar Wednesday.