Element Seeks Hearings Slot to Urge Removing LCD Panels From Tariffs List

Element Electronics wants a slot to appear at public hearings Aug. 20-23 to urge removing two Harmonized Tariff Schedule classifications of Chinese LCD panel imports (HTS 9013.80.90 and 8529.90,13) from the list of proposed 10 percent Trade Act Section 301 tariffs, said the company in a filing posted Thursday in docket USTR-2018-0026. Element is “the sole U.S. mass assembler” of LCD TVs, producing about 2.5 million sets a year at its plant in Winnsboro, South Carolina, and is among the local county's top 20 employers, said the company. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative dealt Element a potential blow July 10 when it released its third round of proposed tariffs targeting LCD panels for the first time, despite Element’s testimony in the first round of tariffs urging that flat-panels be excluded from the duties (see 1807110034). Element responded with an angry letter to the USTR’s office last week threatening to close Winnsboro and terminate the remaining 136 workers unless LCD panels are “immediately excluded from consideration” for the 10 percent tariffs (see 1807200056). It leveled no such threats in the filing posted Thursday. The Internet Association also wants to testify at the hearings, for the removal of 22 tariff lines “that cover products internet companies use to function on a daily basis,” including “control or adapter units for automatic data processing machines” and other components, it said in a filing posted Thursday. Imposing new duties on the 22 tariff lines “would not help to correct China's practices, but would cause disproportionate economic harm to American internet companies,” said the association. Friday is the deadline for filing requests to appear at the hearings.