List 4 Tariffs Delayed to Dec. 15 on Smartphones, Laptops, Game Consoles, Monitors

The Trump administration will delay to Dec. 15 the 10 percent List 3 Section 301 tariffs on smartphones, laptops, videogame consoles and computer monitors, announced the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Tuesday morning. Delaying the tariffs on those articles appears certain to spare the consumer tech industry from passalong price increases during the peak holiday selling season. It bears watching whether the delay will prompt a rush on shipments of those items from China, as U.S. importers scramble to beat the higher duties. There was no immediate word on the fate of other products the tech industry targeted for List 4 removal, including TVs, smart speakers, smartwatches and Bluetooth headphones. Other products are being removed from List 4 entirely, “based on health, safety, national security and other factors,” said USTR. The full and final List 4 will appear on the USTR website Tuesday, it said. USTR will install a List 4 exclusion process for products with immediate tariff exposure, it said.