CTA is “skeptical” the Trump administration’s third tranche of tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports can withstand a court “challenge” because the duties are "unlawful" under the 1974 Trade Act, said the association Friday and in comments at Thursday's deadline in docket USTR-2018-0026. “We are reviewing all options,” emailed a spokesperson when asked if CTA will sue to block the levies. The package of tariffs “may be vulnerable to a legal challenge because they are not based on the required legal finding” of unfair Chinese trade practices, “and instead are retaliatory in nature and require a separate Section 301 investigation,” which U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer “did not conduct,” said CTA. Section 301 “authorizes actions following fact-based investigations, not the responses to China's retaliatory actions,” it said. Lighthizer’s office didn’t comment. President Donald Trump reportedly said the installment could start “very soon” and he's preparing a fourth wave on $267 billion on Chinese imports.

CTA is “skeptical” the Trump administration’s third tranche of tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports can withstand a court “challenge” because the duties are "unlawful" under the 1974 Trade Act, said the association Friday and in comments at Thursday's deadline in docket USTR-2018-0026. “We are reviewing all options,” emailed a spokesperson when asked if CTA will sue to block the levies. The package of tariffs “may be vulnerable to a legal challenge because they are not based on the required legal finding” of unfair Chinese trade practices, “and instead are retaliatory in nature and require a separate Section 301 investigation,” which U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer “did not conduct,” said CTA. Section 301 “authorizes actions following fact-based investigations, not the responses to China's retaliatory actions,” it said. Lighthizer’s office didn’t comment. President Donald Trump reportedly said the installment could start “very soon” and he's preparing a fourth wave on $267 billion on Chinese imports.

CTA is “skeptical” that the Trump administration’s third tranche of tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports can withstand a court “challenge” because it thinks the duties are "unlawful" under the 1974 Trade Act, said the association Friday and in comments at Thursday's deadline in docket USTR-2018-0026. “We are reviewing all options,” emailed spokeswoman Izzy Santa when asked if CTA will sue to block the duties.

Continuing the “tit-for-tat tariff escalation” with China by enacting a third tranche of proposed Trade Act Section 301 duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports “only serves to expand the harm to more U.S. economic interests, including farmers, families, businesses, and workers,” wrote CTA, the National Retail Federation and 148 other trade groups in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer at Thursday's deadline for final comments in docket USTR-2018-0026.

The Consumer Technology Association is considering a lawsuit to challenge the proposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods from China under Section 301, the trade group said in a news release. “We are reviewing all options,” emailed spokeswoman Izzy Santa when asked if CTA will sue to block the levies. CTA's comments "detail how these tariffs may be vulnerable to a legal challenge because they are not based on the required legal finding of unfair business practices by China, and instead are retaliatory in nature and require a separate Section 301 investigation, which USTR did not conduct," it said. Gary Shapiro, CTA's CEO, said "we are skeptical the $200 billion tariffs will be upheld in court if challenged."

China is a bigger problem than Canada, President Donald Trump told reporters Sept. 7 on Air Force One, and said he has tariffs ready to go on all the other Chinese products that have not faced additional tariffs in the trade war thus far. "Nobody has ever done what I’ve done. The $200 billion we’re talking about, could take place very soon, depending what happens with them," he said, referring to the third tranche of Chinese goods subject to Section 301 tariffs (see 1807110050), whose comment period ended Sept. 6. "And I hate to say that, but behind that, there’s another $267 billion ready to go on short notice, if I want. That totally changes the equation," he said, according to various media reports.

SAN DIEGO -- Smart home company Brilliant Home Technology announced availability Thursday of its home automation technology, which controls lights, thermostats, locks, doorbells and Sonos speakers over Wi-Fi from a smart light switch. Brilliant received CTA’s TechHome Mark of Excellence award for product of the year, announced at CES.

Continuing the “tit-for-tat tariff escalation” with China by enacting a third tranche of proposed Section 301 duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports “only serves to expand the harm to more U.S. economic interests, including farmers, families, businesses, and workers,” wrote the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, the National Retail Federation and 148 other trade groups in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer at the Sept. 6 deadline for comments in docket USTR-2018-0026. “Unilaterally imposing tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in goods invites retaliation,” said the groups, which also included the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones, the American Association of Exporters and Importers, the Information Technology Industry Council and the Telecommunications Industry Association. Implementing the first two rounds of tariffs July 6 and Aug. 23 “has not resulted in meaningful negotiations or concessions” from the Chinese, they said.

The Trump administration’s proposed Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on a third tranche of Chinese goods worth about $200 billion in customs value “would target many key components that make cloud computing possible,” reported the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Tuesday. The administration “in theory” initiated the tariffs to “counteract unfair Chinese trade practices and improve U.S. competitiveness,” said ITIF. “But their practical effect would be to advantage foreign technology competitors, thereby threatening U.S. leadership in both the adoption and provision of cloud computing, and stunting U.S. economic growth,” it said. Though Chinese “innovation mercantilism” is a “laudable and necessary mission,” the administration needs to “seek alternative policy measures that do not raise the cost of key productivity -- and innovation-enhancing capital goods and services such as information technology and cloud computing,” it said. ITIF fears that tariffs would raise prices for businesses and consumers and force cloud-service providers to cut costs through job reductions or curtail spending on new data centers or the R&D “needed to stay ahead of international competitors,” it said. It also worries that cloud providers “may be forced to invest elsewhere to remain competitive,” it said. Tariffs also “threaten to disrupt finely crafted global supply chains for the manufacture of information-technology products,” it said. Those supply chains can’t “easily be reinvented in the short term without significant detriment to, and dislocation of, U.S. industry,” it said.

The Trump administration’s proposed Section 301 tariffs on a third tranche of Chinese goods worth about $200 billion in customs value “would target many key components that make cloud computing possible,” the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation reported on Sept. 4. The administration “in theory” initiated the tariffs to “counteract unfair Chinese trade practices and improve U.S. competitiveness,” ITIF said. “But their practical effect would be to advantage foreign technology competitors, thereby threatening U.S. leadership in both the adoption and provision of cloud computing, and stunting U.S. economic growth,” it said. Though “contesting Chinese innovation mercantilism” is a “laudable and necessary mission,” the administration needs to “seek alternative policy measures that do not raise the cost of key productivity -- and innovation-enhancing capital goods and services such as information technology and cloud computing,” it said. ITIF fears that tariffs would raise prices for businesses and consumers and force cloud-service providers to cut costs through job reductions or curtail spending on new data centers or the research and development “needed to stay ahead of international competitors,” it said. It also worries that cloud providers “may be forced to invest elsewhere to remain competitive,” it said. Tariffs also “threaten to disrupt finely crafted global supply chains for the manufacture of information-technology products,” it said. Those supply chains can’t “easily be reinvented in the short term without significant detriment to, and dislocation of, U.S. industry,” it said.