TCT Mobile Seeks Recovery of China Tariffs in 2 Dozen Import Categories

TCL Communication Technology Holdings’ North American smartphone subsidiary became one of the largest importers to join the massive Section 301 litigation when it filed a complaint Feb. 12 in the Court of International Trade. Like the roughly 3,500 other lawsuits inundating the court, TCT Mobile (US) seeks to get the lists 3 and 4A tariffs on Chinese goods vacated and the duties refunded with interest. TCT's claims “accrued with each and every entry of products” with List 3 or List 4A tariff exposure, the company said. The “instant action” was filed within two years of the date that TCT paid the lists 3 and 4A duties, it said, satisfying the court’s two-year statute of limitations on the timeliness of complaints.

“With a mobile handset product portfolio that includes TCL and Alcatel devices,” TCT is “the fourth largest handset manufacturer in North America,” it said. The complaint lists two dozen import categories for which TCT has List 3 or List 4A tariff exposure. Most are for capital goods, packaging materials or components, including lithium-ion batteries. Finished smartphones that TCT imports from China under tariff schedule subheading 8517.12.00 are on List 4B. The Trump administration postponed indefinitely the 15% tariffs on List 4B goods taking effect in December 2019, after reaching the phase one trade deal with China.

Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the complaint.