The “swipe fees” banks charge merchants to process credit card transactions will contribute nearly $2.5 billion to the cost of back-to-school (BTS) items families shop for this season, said the Merchants Payments Coalition Friday, citing data from the National Retail Federation. That's $20 in fees for the average family, it said.

The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security is reviewing the types of semiconductors and chipmaking equipment that can be exported to China to determine whether it needs to tighten those restrictions, said BIS Undersecretary Alan Estevez. Speaking during a Senate Banking Committee hearing Thursday, Estevez said the agency is considering tightening the “cut-off point” of semiconductors that are subject to strict export licensing requirements.

Due to the “softening device momentum” in demand for smartphones, PCs and other consumer “end-market” segments, “we observe the supply chain is already taking action and expect inventory levels to reduce throughout the second-half 2022,” said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. CEO C.C. Wei on a Q2 earnings call Thursday. TSMC, the world’s largest foundry, reported a 36.6% year-over-year Q2 revenue increase in U.S. dollar terms to $18.16 billion on strong demand in high-performance computing, IoT and automotive.

Amazon’s Prime Day, ended Wednesday, was “the biggest Prime Day event ever,” said Amazon Thursday, not disclosing receipts for the 48-hour event. Prime members in over 20 countries bought more than 300 million items, said Amazon. The first Prime Day, a 24-hour event, was in July 2015, when 34.4 million items were ordered in nine Prime-eligible countries, Amazon said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Wednesday they’re against passing the Senate’s chips package.

More than seven of every 10 TVs sold to U.S. consumers in 2022's first four months were bought “on promotion,” reported NPD Wednesday. “Higher inventory coupled with growing price sensitivity as a result of weakening consumer finances have given rise to a surge” of TVs being sold at discount, it said.

Maryland limits on how a company communicates prices to customers through a digital ad tax law sounds like restricting speech, a federal judge said at a virtual argument Tuesday. After hearing arguments on remaining constitutional issues in U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others’ lawsuit against Maryland’s digital ad tax law (case 1:21-cv-00410-DKC), U.S. District Court in Baltimore Judge Lydia Griggsby said she disagreed the law regulates only conduct.

Advocates of a proposal to use the 12 GHz band for 5G told us they expect SpaceX to launch a late campaign opposing the change and think the FCC is still on a path to authorizing operations in coming months. Leaders of the 5G for 12 GHz Coalition say all signs are that the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology is fully engaged in working through the engineering and whether the band can be used for 5G without causing harmful interference to incumbents. OneWeb also raised concerns (see 2207120058).

U.K. data protection law revisions shouldn't cause friction with either the U.S. or EU, speakers said at an Atlantic Council Europe Center webinar Tuesday. Despite recent political changes in Britain, revising the country's privacy law remains a priority, said Jenny Hall, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport deputy director. The government wants to champion cooperation with its international partners by improving on the EU general data protection regulation (GDPR), she said.

T-Mobile is leading in 5G because it predicted correctly the latest generation of wireless would unfold in mid-band, not millimeter-wave frequencies, said CEO Mike Sievert at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., Wednesday. Verizon led on 4G in the last decade and “we've jumped out in the 5G era with a lead in 5G,” he said.