Most Tech List 4A Tariff-Exclusion Requests Are From Bluetooth, Smart Speaker Firms

U.S. importers sourcing smart speakers, Bluetooth devices, smartwatches and fitness trackers from China filed the most List 4A Section 301 tariff exclusion requests of any consumer tech category through Nov. 27 since the Office of U.S. Trade Representative began accepting the requests Oct. 31, the public docket shows. The broad assortment of goods imported under the 8517.62.0090 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. had the widest tariff exposure of any consumer tech product on List 4A, according to an International Trade Today analysis of Census Bureau statistics accessed through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool.

Importers of HTS 8517.62.0090 goods from China likely paid about $221 million in List 4A tariffs in the first month after the 15 percent duties took effect Sept. 1, our DataWeb analysis found. Six exclusion requests for HTS 8517.62.0090 goods were filed since the USTR docket went live four weeks ago. In comparison, importers of finished TVs from China, the next largest consumer tech dollar-import category with List 4A tariff exposure, filed zero exemption requests. We estimate, based on the DataWeb numbers, that TV importers likely paid about $34 million in tariffs during September. USTR will continue accepting List 4A exclusion requests through Jan. 31, 2020.

Of the six exemptions sought for HTS 8517.62.0090 goods, three were from Apple and one each was from Bose, Fitbit and Tile. A Silicon Valley marketer of Bluetooth tracking devices for finding lost keys, wallets and other everyday items around the home and in the car, Tile sells its products through Best Buy, Home Depot and Target, plus Amazon, it said.

When an item bearing a Tile tracker is misplaced, a smartphone app can make the lost item “emit a loud ring,” Tile’s exemption filing said. The trackers vary in a range of 100 to 500 feet, it said. If the lost item is out of range, the app “will show the geographic location where the device was last in range,” it said.

It’s not “economically feasible” to make the product in the U.S., Tile said. It’s “currently in the process of moving the majority of its production out of China,” it said. “This entails substantial investment and requires time to identify and validate manufacturing options, adjust the company’s supply chain, and ramp up production.”