Technology Interests Seek Revisions to Latest Section 301 Tariffs List

Element Electronics wants a slot to appear at public hearings Aug. 20-23 to urge removal of 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 Section 301 tariffs, the company said in a filing posted July 26 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, the company said. 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 July 26. 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,” the association said. July 27 is the deadline for filing requests to appear at the hearings.