Comments are due June 1, replies July 2 on an FCC national security NPRM in docket 18-89, said a proposed rule in Wednesday's Federal Register. The NPRM adopted April 17 proposes to bar the use of money in any USF program to buy equipment or services from companies that “pose a national security threat” to U.S. communications networks or the communications supply chain (see 1804170038). It also explores broader related issues (see 1804180053).

The Trump administration's proposed 25 percent tariffs on Chinese imports and retaliatory Chinese actions that could follow would reduce U.S. GDP by nearly $3 billion and “destroy” 134,000 American jobs, said CTA and the National Retail Federation in a Tuesday report. CTA and NRF estimated that “four jobs would be lost for every job gained.” As administration officials head to China for trade talks, “we hope this is the start of a serious negotiation process that leads to a more open Chinese market and protects U.S. jobs and economic growth,” said NRF President Matthew Shay. “We must resolve this trade dispute without resorting to job-killing tariffs and retaliation." CTA thinks “it is best for the administration to seize on China's willingness to negotiate to achieve positive outcomes for U.S. workers, rather than via tariffs that ultimately harm us," said President Gary Shapiro.

China, from which Intel drew more than 20 percent of its 2017 revenue, is “one of our fastest-growing segments,” and so “we're counting on our leaders and the leaders of the world to go resolve these issues,” said CEO Brian Krzanich on a Thursday earnings call of the looming threat of U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports and the retaliatory Chinese actions that might follow (see 1803220043). “We believe in fair trade,” said Krzanich. “We believe that countries and companies need to be able to play in markets fairly and compete, and we're counting on this getting worked out. That's very important to us.” Intel’s Mobileye autonomous-vehicle “test fleet” has begun operating in Israel and “will expand to other geographies in the coming months,” said Krzanich. The fleet “fully implements” the “responsible-sensitive safety” system that Intel introduced last year, he said. “This unique system applies a formal common-sense safety seal to the vehicle's decision-making, resulting in the optimal combination of provable safety and human-like driving style.” Intel views the “winning path” to autonomous driving as a “progression” from current advanced driver-assistance systems to full autonomy, he said. “We're seeing significant momentum in the marketplace, including a recent high-volume design win for EyeQ5,” Mobileye’s fifth-generation vision-processing SoCs, with “a European premium vehicle manufacturer,” he said.

Negotiators of the North American Free Trade Agreement should include Section 230-modeled protections for online intermediaries to encourage free speech and foster startup efforts, TechFreedom said Friday of a letter it sent with many tech groups and associations. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides liability protection for online hosts and moderators of user-generated content. “Without those protections, even the biggest tech companies would be discouraged from empowering their users to speak freely,” TechFreedom founder Berin Szoka said. “But for startups, the potential liability would be fatal.” Others signing the letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and leaders from Mexico and Canada include the Center for Democracy and Technology and Internet Association.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office accepted CTA’s request for Sage Chandler, vice president-international trade, to testify at the May 15 public hearing in opposition to the Trump administration’s proposed 25 percent tariffs on goods imported from China (see 1804040023), CTA spokeswoman Izzy Santa emailed us Thursday. Of the 1,300 "product lines" in the USTR's list of proposed tariffs, CTA members have so far identified 190 Harmonized Tariff Schedule codes representing goods they import from China, and those goods were worth $25 billion last year, said Chandler in comments posted Wednesday in docket USTR-2018-0005. CTA members worry about “the impact of tariffs on their supply chains and their ability to deliver the quality products desired by U.S. consumers,” she said. “Some of our members, particularly innovative start-ups, have expressed concern that the proposed tariffs put them at a disadvantage relative to their competitors in other nations who can continue importing critical components from China at a fraction of the cost.” CTA opposes using tariffs “to address inequity in the trade relationship with China because of potential long-term negative consequences to our own economy,” said Chandler. “A better approach is to promote policy and diplomatic efforts which directly address the limitations U.S. companies face when doing business in China,” including “engagement” of the World Trade Organization’s “dispute settlement process,” she said.

The China Chamber of International Commerce opposes the Trump administration’s imposition of 25 percent tariffs on Chinese imports (see 1804040023) and wants to send delegates from Beijing to the U.S. Trade Representative’s May 15 hearing to testify to that effect, the business group commented, posted Wednesday in docket USTR-2018-0005. The USTR’s 215-page investigative report released March 22 as justification for the proposal of tariffs (see 1803230016) was flawed, said the chamber. Contrary to finding that Chinese regulations on joint-venture contracts with foreign companies hurt U.S. businesses, “no positive evidence supports the underlying determination that China has implemented laws, policies and practices that are unreasonable and burden the U.S. commerce,” said the chamber. “None of the public comments submitted by interested parties has identified any Chinese laws or regulations that mandatorily requires technology transfer, or present any real and concrete case in which the Chinese government has in practice forced transfer of technologies,” said the chamber. “Anonymous surveys” on which “the USTR’s conclusion relied heavily, are of little, if any, probative value,” it said. Tariffs will hurt both the U.S. and China, it said. "As numerous interested persons have demonstrated, raising tariffs will not only hurt the U.S. importers, retailers and downstream industries, but also result in a higher cost of living for ordinary American people and put at risk millions of American jobs that are tied to trade with China." The chamber thinks "cooperation instead of confrontation is the only right way to resolve differences," it said. "Not only because the China-US economic and trade relationship is highly interdependent, but also because the two sides share a wide range of common interests and goals, which forms a good basis for reaching mutually acceptable solution." USTR didn’t comment.

Best Buy wants to testify at the May 15 hearing on the Trump administration’s proposed 25 percent tariffs on goods imported from China (see 1804050005), the company said in a written “request to appear” filed Friday with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and posted Tuesday in docket USTR-2018-0005. At the hearing and in written comments Best Buy will submit by the May 11 deadline, Chief Marketing Officer Mike Mohan will urge the USTR to eliminate from the list of targeted products flat-panel TVs under the 85287264 subheading of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, said the filing. “Best Buy intends to provide testimony on the inefficacy of the proposed tariffs in achieving the objectives outlined by USTR,” the impact tariffs will have on Best Buy, the industry and U.S. consumers, “and alternative remedies that USTR should consider instead of the tariffs,” it said. Analysts estimate TVs classified under the 85287264 subheading include virtually all the sets that are imported from China, including Best Buy’s Insignia-brand private-label product (see 1804040023). Nearly 19 million TVs with a value of $3.9 billion were imported from China in 2017 under the 85287264 classification last year. No CTA comments or requests to appear at the heating were posted in the docket by our Tuesday deadline, but Bronwyn Flores, CTA specialist-policy communications, wrote Monday on her own behalf, without mentioning her CTA affiliation. She asked the USTR “to stand up for free trade and oppose tariffs on imported Chinese goods.” If the proposed tariffs go through, “American consumers can expect to pay up to $100 more on TVs from China,” she said. “Tariffs also put at risk the 7 million American jobs that are tied to trade with China.”

The Trump administration’s negotiations with Mexico on the North American Free Trade Agreement could be helpful to AT&T, which has invested big there, BTIG’s Walter Piecyk told investors Wednesday. AT&T appears to be “receiving support from the administration to improve its ability to compete with America Movil, as part of NAFTA negotiations,” Piecyk wrote. “Ironically, successful NAFTA negotiations could provide AT&T with incentive to maintain its pace of investments in Mexico rather than shifting capital to accelerate fiber deployments or its FirstNet buildout in the United States.”

Imported RF devices must have a suppliers' declaration of conformity available from a responsible party if the FCC requests one, though such SDoC's aren't required at ports of entry, said the commission's Office of Engineering and Technology guidance dated April 5. "The responsible party is typically one of the following: the manufacturer, the assembler (if the equipment is assembled from individual component parts), or the importer (if the equipment is imported)," the OET said. Its rules require "that no radio frequency device may be imported into the U.S. unless the importer or ultimate consignee, or their designated broker, determines that the device meets one or more of the conditions for entry." Last year, the regulator ended Form 740 filing requirements (see 1711010017).

The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) denied export privileges to ZTE for seven years. Affiliated companies previously agreed to a combined civil and criminal penalty and forfeiture of $1.19 billion and a seven-year suspended denial (see 1703290058) because of sales of telecom equipment to Iran and North Korea and misleading the U.S. government. The denial, announced Monday, is because ZTE paid bonuses to employees involved in the sales and didn't reprimand them as claimed. "If the $892 million monetary penalty paid pursuant to the March 23, 2017 order, criminal plea agreement, and settlement agreement with the Department of the Treasury did not induce ZTE to ensure it was engaging with the U.S. government truthfully, an additional monetary penalty of up to roughly a third that amount ($300 million) is unlikely to lead to the company's reform," said BIS. The company didn't comment Tuesday.