Motion Picture Association hires Karyn Temple, U.S. Copyright Office, as senior executive vice president-global general counsel, effective Jan. 13 ... FCC appoints Francisco Salguero, ex-Agriculture Department, chief information officer; John Skudlarek has been acting CIO ... Lisa Casias, ex-Commerce Department Office of Chief Financial Officer, joins FirstNet as deputy CEO ... ICANN advances Mandy Carver to senior vice president-government and intergovernmental organization engagement ... Brianna Manzelli, ex-Senate Commerce Committee, becomes FAA assistant administrator-communications.

FCC appoints Francisco Salguero, ex-Agriculture Department, chief information officer; John Skudlarek has been acting CIO ... ICANN advances Mandy Carver to senior vice president-government and intergovernmental organization engagement ... Motion Picture Association hires Karyn Temple, U.S. Copyright Office, as senior executive vice president-global general counsel, effective Jan. 13 ... Brianna Manzelli, ex-Senate Commerce Committee, becomes FAA assistant administrator-communications.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said he doesn't expect the Dec. 15 round of tariffs on consumer goods from China to go into effect then, according to Bloomberg News.“I do not believe those will be implemented and I think we may see some backing away,” Purdue said at a conference in Indianapolis on Dec. 9.

Fossil Group seeks exclusions from the 15 percent List 4A Section 301 tariffs it has paid on seven classifications of traditional-watch parts it imports from China since the duties on those goods took effect Sept. 1, said postings Monday in the U.S. Trade Representative’s public docket. It requested exemptions on four classifications of watch straps imported under the 9102.11.10.30, 9102.11.25.30, 9102.11.30.30 and 9102.11.45.30 tariff subheadings, plus three on the watch cases it imports under the 9102.11.10.20, 9102.11.30.20 and 9102.11.45.20 classifications, said the postings. As with the exemption it sought Friday on the finished watches it sources from China (see 1912060062), Fossil said it uses a factory in India to supply the watch parts to the local market there, but the facility doesn’t have the capacity to service the company’s global needs. Fossil also is “not aware of any facility in the U.S. that can meet its needs for capacity, supply chain logistics, pricing, quality control and timely delivery of its traditional watch products to the standards it currently achieves in its supply chain,” it said in each of the postings.

President Donald Trump should go forward with the planned Dec. 15 tariff increase on goods from China, the Coalition for a Prosperous America said in a Dec. 10 news release. The CPA noted that some 260 U.S. companies sent Trump a letter on Dec. 9 that offered support for the Section 301 tariffs. While the letter doesn't make a specific mention of the Dec. 15 tariffs, the companies were “registering their support for the president’s actions ahead of a December 15 final list of Chinese imports that will be subject to tariffs,” CPA said. CPA Chair Dan DiMicco said “the American people support President Trump’s efforts to confront China” and “this letter includes a wide range of industries that have repeatedly been targeted by China.” There's been some recent indication that the scheduled Dec. 15 tariff increase will not happen at that time (see 1912090057).

Retail imports through the major U.S. container ports “bumped up significantly” in November as retailers imported merchandise ahead of the 15 percent Section 301 List 4B tariffs set to take effect Sunday, said the National Retail Federation Monday. “At this point, holiday merchandise is already in the country, so the direct impact of new tariffs won’t be seen until the season is over,” said NRF. Tariffs are bad for “consumer and business confidence,” it said, urging the Trump administration to cancel or postpone List 4B “as a sign of good faith.” The U.S. needs a trade deal with China “as soon as possible so we can bring an end to the trade war that has put a drag on the U.S. economy for far too long,” it said. The White House didn’t comment. NRF estimates U.S. ports handled 1.88 million 20-foot-long cargo containers, but that November imports jumped to an estimated 1.95 million, an 8 percent increase from November 2018, and the highest volume since August.

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

October imports of Chinese smartphones and laptops jumped by double digits sequentially from September, said newly released Census Bureau data accessed through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. They’re two of the largest consumer tech product classifications facing 15 percent Section 301 List 4B tariff exposure that starts Sunday.

Fossil Group filed for an exemption to the 15 percent List 4A Section 301 tariffs it has paid since Sept. 1 on the traditional watches it imports from China under tariff subheading 9102.11.2520, said a Dec. 6 posting in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s public docket. “Fossil continues to look for ways to diversify its sourcing for traditional watches,” the vendor said. It recently invested in a factory in India that has “capacity to address our product needs” for the local market, but can’t “address our product needs in the global markets,” it said. “Watch manufacturing is a highly specialized skill which cannot be readily duplicated.” Moving traditional watch manufacturing out of China “is not feasible at this time, especially in the very challenging market for traditional watches that Fossil has been experiencing over the last couple of years,” it said. The exemption request doesn’t list Fossil smartwatch imports, which also have List 4A exposure. Fossil also requested exemptions on four classifications of watch straps imported under subheadings 9102.11.10.30, 9102.11.25.30, 9102.11.30.30 and 9102.11.45.30, plus three on the watch cases it imports under subheadings 9102.11.10.20, 9102.11.30.20 and 9102.11.45.20.

TV imports to the U.S. became a much more Mexico-centric business in October, the second full month of 15 percent Section 301 List 4A tariff exposure for finished sets from China, according to recently released Census Bureau statistics accessed through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. More than two-thirds of October’s TV unit imports to the U.S. came from Mexico, while China’s share plummeted to half its October 2018 level, DataWeb said.