On August 13th, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced a change in the net round of anticipated China tariffs.
In May, the USTR announced a set of tariffs expected to go into effect on September 1. Each tariff would apply a 10% duty (which must be paid by the importer) on certain goods. The May announcement reflected tariffs applying duties to about $300 billion worth of US imports from China. This list of tariffs had been identified as list 4.
List 4 has been split into list 4A and list 4B. The tariffs described in list 4A will go into effect September 1, 2019, as scheduled; but the tariffs described in list 4B will be delayed until December 15, 2019. The official reason for this delay is to mitigate the effect on US consumers in advance of Christmas. Products in this group 4B include cell phones, laptop computers, video game consoles, certain toys, computer monitors, and certain items of footwear and clothing.
Note that this change does not affect the aircraft parts that are already subject to 25% tariffs; however list 4A will add aircraft seats to the list of goods from China that are subject to tariffs (tariff codes 9401.10.40 and 9401.10.80). US importers of aircraft seats from China should take note of this September 1 date!
The USTR has stated that “Certain products are being removed from the tariff list based on health, safety, national security and other factors and will not face additional tariffs of 10 percent.” It is unclear at this time which articles will be removed from the lists, but the USTR has promised to publish additional details in the Federal Register, soon.