The LCD TV panel assemblies that Element imports for putting finished sets together in South Carolina “are not currently commercially available from any country other than China,” said the vendor in a List 4A Section 301 tariff exclusion request posted Friday at the Office of U.S. Trade Representative’s public docket. “Element is exploring options for alternative sources of supply, but no non-China sources are currently available,” said the vendor, which supplies LCD TVs to Walmart and other big-box retailers and consistently places within the top tier of TV unit-share leaders. An International Trade Commission and Commerce Department Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) “review” confirmed “there is no US production of LCD panel assemblies,” said Element. It got a temporary suspension of the 4.5 percent duties on the LCD panel assemblies it sources from China under the 9013.80.90 tariff line through an MTB Act that President Donald Trump signed last September to promote U.S. production at companies that rely on small-volume imports (see 1904260021). The 9013.80.90 goods were tariffed at 15 percent when the List 4A duties took effect Sept. 1.

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 28 - Nov. 1 in case they were missed.

Fitbit filed one request from the 15 percent Section 301 List 4A tariffs for its core fitness trackers and smartwatches, saying it deserves credit for shifting production away from China at the U.S. Trade Representative’s public docket. Fitbit “began to adjust its operations" almost immediately after the Trump administration proposed tariffs on smartwatches and fitness trackers sourced from China, the company said. It "anticipates being able to make substantial additional changes to its supply chain in the foreseeable future," it said. Fitbit will shift production to "outside China" starting in January for “effectively all of its trackers and smartwatches” to escape tariff exposure, it said last month (see 1910090053).

Apple, Fitbit and SVS Sound were the first tech companies to seek product exclusions from the 15 percent Section 301 List 4A tariffs soon after the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative began accepting exemption requests at noon EDT Thursday (see 1910210069).

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is weighing whether to extend the first of the Section 301 List 1 tariff exclusions it granted late last year for up to another 12 months when they expire Dec. 28, said Thursday’s Federal Register. USTR will evaluate extending each exclusion on a “case-by-case basis." It seeks comments in docket USTR-2019-0019 by Nov. 30 on whether lifting the exclusions will “result in severe economic harm” to U.S. interests. USTR wants to know what efforts U.S. importers have made to source products from countries other than China since List 1 took effect in July 2018.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative estimated it will take staff and contractors about a year to get through 45,000 exclusion requests it expects between new requests for Lists 3 and 4 and requests to extend exclusions granted in December last year. The estimate is part of a notice in the Federal Register published Nov. 1.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is weighing whether to extend the first of the Section 301 List 1 tariff exclusions it granted late last year for up to another 12 months when they expire Dec. 28, said Thursday’s Federal Register. USTR will evaluate extending each exclusion on a “case-by-case basis." It seeks comments in docket USTR-2019-0019 by Nov. 30 on whether lifting the exclusions will “result in severe economic harm” to U.S. interests. USTR wants to know what efforts U.S. importers have made to source products from countries other than China since List 1 took effect in July 2018.

Apple and SVS Sound were among the first tech companies to seek product exclusions from the 15 percent Section 301 List 4A tariffs when the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative began accepting exemption requests at noon on Oct. 31. Apple filed 11 requests, while Specialty Technologies, which does business as SVS, filed two applications, one each for the finished speakers and subwoofers it sources from China.

Apple CEO Tim Cook highlighted the “recurring payment” model a growing number of iPhone users have adopted on the company’s fiscal Q4 earnings call Wednesday, saying the company wants to make that process easier. Cook was responding to a question on plans for bundling hardware and services, which the company is doing for the first time beginning Friday when it rolls out Apple TV Plus. The company is giving a free year of Apple TV Plus service ($4.99 monthly) to customers who buy and activate an iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch, dating back to Sept. 10. Customers can initiate the offer Friday and have a three-month window to sign up.

The International Trade Commission issued Revision 16 to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Changes in the new edition that take effect Nov. 1 include the restoration of eligibility of many Ukrainian goods for the Generalized System of Preferences, as well as implementation of the results of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s 2019 GSP product review, which also requires minor changes to tariff subheadings for certain plywood. A new set of exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on products from China are also added to the tariff schedule.