Wholesaler Mobile Defenders Seeks List 4A Tariff Exclusion on Chinese iPhone Parts

Mobile Defenders is seeking an exclusion from the 15 percent Section 301 tariffs on the iPhone repair parts it has paid on imports from China since the List 4A duties took effect Sept. 1, it posted Friday in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative public docket. “Mobile Defenders has not identified a source outside of China that is able to meet U.S. demand for these repair components in the coming year,” said the parts wholesaler. Smartphones themselves escaped tariff exposure when the Trump administration pulled the Dec. 15 List 4B duties off the table with the U.S-China phase one trade deal. Though availability of iPhone parts remains concentrated in China, sourcing of replacement components for other smartphones is scattered among various countries throughout the world. Census Bureau statistics accessed through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool showed that besides China, Canada, the Czech Republic, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam are the main countries of origin for smartphone replacement parts imported to the U.S. under the 8517.70.00.00 subheading for which Mobile Defenders seeks a tariff exemption on goods from China. U.S. importers faced $318.9 million in tariff exposure on the smartphone parts they sourced from China in September and October, the first two months the List 4A duties were in effect, said DataWeb. China was responsible for 47.7 percent of all smartphone-parts imports to the U.S. in August, but that share slipped to 40.5 percent as U.S. importers shifted their sourcing elsewhere to reduce their List 4A tariff exposure, said DataWeb. Besides Mobile Defenders, Apple itself was the only other importer to seek an exemption on 8517.70.00.00 iPhone parts from China since USTR began accepting List 4A applications Oct. 31.