Consumer Tech Interests Ask at Opening Day of Hearings to Be Shielded From List 4 Tariffs

Bonfig said during Day 1 of Office of U.S. Trade Representative hearings. Bonfig said brands have been moving manufacturing out of China since enforcement efforts began, but it's a multiyear effort to find new sourcing, and that "cannot be done faster than it’s already going." IRobot CEO Colin Angle has firsthand knowledge of the intellectual property abuses Chinese companies engage in, he testified. But Angle asked the administration not to impose tariffs on the robotic goods it sources from China because his firm, which employs 700 in the U.S., is satisfied with China as a manufacturing platform. Angle, who said iRobot has more than 80 percent of the consumer robot market in the U.S., said his company won a patent-violation case in October, which meant Chinese factories can't export those goods to the U.S. IRobot was the victim of cyberattacks that resulted in intellectual property theft, and two Chinese citizens were indicted for the crime, said Angle. "Moving production to the U.S. would increase our cost of goods sold by 60 percent," Angle said. The Roomba, iRobot's flagship product, has had List 3 tariffs imposed on it since last summer, he said. Comments were due Monday to USTR on the List 4 duties (see 1906170050).