Consider ‘Reallocating’ TVs to List 4B Where There’s No Tariff Exposure, TCL Urges USTR

If TCL North America does not get the exclusions it seeks from the 15 percent List 4A Section 301 tariffs it has paid since Sept. 1 on flat-panel TV imports from China, it wants the Trump administration to weigh “reallocating” TVs to List 4B where there’s no current tariff exposure, the vendor said. TCL filed three separate exemption requests Jan. 23 at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative public docket on tariff schedule subheadings 8528.72.64.30, 8528.72.64.40 and 8528.72.64.60, covering TV imports that vary by screen size. The “sole available source of LCD panels and supporting material components is China,” it said in all three applications.

Though TCL “identified limited potential assembly capabilities located outside of China, none of these options are capable of producing primary LCD panel components, and can only assemble components in a limited capacity into finished or nearly-finished goods,” the vendor said. Flat-panel TVs are “a significant outlier on List 4A,” and so should be moved to List 4B, TCL said. Flat-panel TVs “are the only electronic or digital products” on List 4A, “with all others located on List 4B,” it said.

The administration suspended the List 4B tariffs 48 hours before they were to take effect Dec. 15, when it reached the phase one trade deal with China. The List 4A tariffs are scheduled to be rolled back by half, to 7.5 percent, when phase one takes effect Feb. 14, but are to remain in place indefinitely.

President Donald Trump “initiated these tariff actions, in part, to address the issue of intellectual property rights for American businesses in trade with China,” TCL said. “Rather than be sanctioned under 301 tariffs, TCL’s partnership with Roku should serve as a model for ensuring the proper protection and compensation of American creators and owners of intellectual property for products manufactured in China.”