Tariffs on 9 Line Items Would Cost Dish $19.5 Million in Extra 2019 Spending, It Tells USTR
Dish Network wants nine tariff lines removed from the proposed third tranche of 25 percent Trade Act Section 301 duties on Chinese imports (see 1808010018) because the products they cover “are critical elements of providing our pay-TV service, including to customers in rural America,” said Jeffrey Blum, senior vice president-public policy and government affairs, in a letter Thursday to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, posted Friday in docket USTR-2018-0026.
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“Based on an analysis of our 2018 expenditures, and assuming the same level of spending in 2019, these tariffs will cost the company nearly $19.5 million in additional spending,” said Blum. He included on his list the Harmonized Tariff Schedule’s 8517.62.00 subheading that many tech interests say would disrupt the IoT supply chain if new duties aren’t defeated on products imported from China under that classification (see 1807300002). HTS 8517.62.00 includes servers, gateways and modems critical to the IoT “ecosystem,” plus ubiquitous consumer products such as Bluetooth headsets, speakers, fitness trackers and smartwatches, said CTA.
Other line items Blum listed for removal were for assorted parts and components, including TV antennas and antenna reflectors imported from China under HTS 8529.10.21. Blum didn’t ask to testify at the Aug. 20-23 public hearings on the proposed tariffs, as most of the more than 800 who filed comments in the docket did, including the Semiconductor Industry Association. The trade group wants to testify at the public hearings to "express our deep concern" with the administration's proposed tariffs on two dozen HTS line items in the third tranche of duties, it said in Thursday comments that were posted Friday.
"Taken together" with the second semiconductor-heavy tranche of duties announced as taking effect Aug. 23 (see 1808080028), the additional tariffs "threaten nearly the entire ICT ecosystem that underpins the U.S. economy, hundreds of thousands of jobs, innovation, and U.S. leadership in critical technology sectors," said SIA. "If these tariffs are imposed, the potential harm to the U.S. economy and ICT industry will be profound," while the "real target" of punishing China for allegedly unfair trade practices "will remain unaddressed," it said.
Not all are sympathetic to the tech industry, including one Victoria Frank, of Northfield, Illinois. Tech companies are "crying because they have had their secrets stolen," said Frank in comments posted Friday. "Is this any surprise when most of their goods are made in China? And these companies decided to have goods made in China to increase their profit. Now they are rich beyond measure." Requests to testify are due Monday under the deadline Lighthizer extended from July 27 when he announced he will “consider,” under President Donald Trump’s direction, raising the third tranche of proposed duties to 25 percent from 10 percent.