Tech interests will debate the ripple-effect consumer harms that may result from the Trump administration’s newest proposals to impose 10 percent Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports. But the list of goods targeted for the 10 percent duties, released Tuesday in an Office of the U.S. Trade Representative notice, doesn't include meaningful end-user consumer tech products like TVs. U.S. purveyors of luggage, textiles and fashion accessories weren't so lucky.

The International Trade Commission recently posted Revision 7 to the 2018 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Coming just days after the ITC’s mid-year HTS update, the new edition adds provisions implementing a 25% Section 301 tariff on $34 billion in imports from China that took effect July 6. It also reflects the restoration of African Growth and Opportunity Act benefits for Eswatini, and the country’s renaming from Swaziland.

CTA, the Semiconductor Industry Association and others asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to appear at a July 24 hearing to oppose 25 percent Trade Action Section 301 tariffs on more Chinese-sourced products related to alleged IP practices (see 1806150030), docket USTR-2018-0018 shows. CTA members identified 22 Harmonized Tariffs Schedule codes on the new tariffs list covering $6.6 billion worth of products they imported from China in 2017, said Sage Chandler, vice president-international trade. Chinese companies “export almost no semiconductors to the U.S. market,” said David Isaacs, SIA vice president-government affairs. Most U.S.semiconductor imports from China "are semiconductors designed and manufactured in the United States, and then shipped to China for the final stage of semiconductor fabrication,” accounting for 10-15 percent “of the value of the final product,” he said. Written comments are due July 23, post-hearing rebuttal comments July 31.

CTA, the Semiconductor Industry Association and others asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to appear at a July 24 hearing to oppose 25 percent Trade Action Section 301 tariffs on more Chinese-sourced products related to alleged IP practices (see 1806150030), docket USTR-2018-0018 shows. CTA members identified 22 Harmonized Tariffs Schedule codes on the new tariffs list covering $6.6 billion worth of products they imported from China in 2017, said Sage Chandler, vice president-international trade. Chinese companies “export almost no semiconductors to the U.S. market,” said David Isaacs, SIA vice president-government affairs. Most U.S.semiconductor imports from China "are semiconductors designed and manufactured in the United States, and then shipped to China for the final stage of semiconductor fabrication,” accounting for 10-15 percent “of the value of the final product,” he said. Written comments are due July 23, post-hearing rebuttal comments July 31.

The new tariffs proposed for a broad list of goods from China add to the existing concerns about the Trump administration's trade policy, said the chairmen of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees. Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, asked for an in-person meeting between the U.S. and Chinese presidents. "Despite the serious economic consequences of ever-increasing tariffs, today there are no serious trade discussions occurring between the U.S. and China, no plans for trade negotiations anytime soon, and seemingly little action toward a solution," Brady said in a July 10 statement.

CTA, the National Retail Federation and Semiconductor Industry Association asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative for approval to testify at a July 24 hearing to oppose 25 percent Trade Action Section 301 tariffs on a second list of 284 lines of Chinese-sourced products newly proposed for the higher duties (see 1806150030), they commented in docket USTR-2018-0018. The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), which represents Best Buy, Walmart and other big-box retailers, also asked to testify in opposition to the tariffs.

Tech interests will debate the ripple-effect consumer harms that may result from the Trump administration’s newest proposals to impose 10 percent Section 301 tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports. But the list of goods targeted for the 10 percent duties, released July 10 in an Office of the U.S. Trade Representative notice, doesn't include meaningful end-user consumer tech products like TVs.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s list of proposed tariff subheadings set for an additional 10 percent tariff on $200 billion in imports from China covers wide swaths of the tariff schedule that initially avoided Section 301 tariffs imposed July 6. While the 25 percent tariff already in place affects only goods of Chapters 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89 and 90 (with a few exceptions), USTR’s proposed list of additional subheadings includes products from nearly all sectors of the tariff schedule, with the notable exceptions of footwear and apparel and pharmaceuticals.

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 2-6 in case they were missed.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced procedures for requesting product exclusions from Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The procedures are for a second list of 284 lines of products newly proposed for tariffs on June 15 (see 1806150030). Written comments on that second list are due July 23 with a public hearing scheduled for July 24. Post-hearing rebuttal comments are due July 31.