The list of tariffs affecting the housewares industry will have a greater impact on home and housewares products with the proposed tariff rate recently increased to 25 percent from the original 10 percent announced by the United States Trade Representative (USTR). The list includes more than 6,000 tariff subheadings, affecting $200 billion of goods imported from China.
“The proposed increase to a 25 percent tariff rate will have an impact on housewares that is much more concerning now,” said Mark Adkison, IHA’s vice president, international. “We are opposed to any policy that adds cost to the supply chain without adding value. We believe there are other tactics that could be used instead of tariffs and hope both countries return to the negotiating table before the latest proposed tariffs take effect.”
Brett Bradshaw, co-president, Bradshaw Home and IHA’s chairman, will testify before the Section 301 Committee on Aug. 21 as to how the tariffs will affect both his company and the housewares industry.
“Imposing a 25 percent tariff on the proposed consumer products could not only be very detrimental to our business, but also to the already struggling retail sector that had over 7,000 store closures in 2017, a 200 percent increase from the previous year,” Bradshaw said. “We certainly support the effort to eliminate China’s unfair trading practices but feel the current path will lead to job losses and reduce our competitiveness in the global market.”
IHA has joined the National Retail Federation coalition opposing the tariffs and has signed onto an Exclusion Process Letter with 67 other associations. More than 30 representatives of the coalition associations or member businesses will also be testifying at the hearing next week, according to Pam Sederholm, IHA’s government affairs representative.
“Because there is nothing that can be done legislatively to stop the tariffs, it is incumbent that IHA members who are affected provide comment to the committee,” she said. “An outpouring of public comment about the negative effects of the tariffs is greatly needed.”
IHA encourages members affected by the tariffs to participate in the process and make their voices heard regarding the third round of tariff considerations (Docket Number USTR-2018-0026) by taking one or more of the following steps:
- Familiarize yourself with the proposed tariff subheadings included in the action and the potential impacts to your organization. The complete schedule can be found on the USTR’s website.
- Provide feedback about potential impacts to your organization during the public comment period in connection with the proposed action.
- Electronic submissions preferred
- September 6, 2018 – Due date for written comments – has been extended from Aug. 17
- Submit an exclusion request. Although the USTR has not laid out a timeline yet for any products that end up on List 2 or List 3, they did note in the Federal Register notice on the final List 2 that there will be an exclusion process
- Contact your members of Congress with stories of how the tariffs will impact your business:
For questions on the ongoing investigation or proposed action, contact the office of the USTR: Arthur Tsao, assistant general counsel, or Justin Hoffmann, director of industrial goods, at 202-395-5725. For questions on customs classification of products identified in this action, contact traderemedy@cbp.dhs.gov.
For more information about the latest actions being taken by IHA or other tariff related inquiries, contact Mark Adkison IHA’s vice president, international, at 847-692-0126 or madkison@housewares.org.
The International Housewares Association is the 80-year-old voice of the housewares industry, which accounted for (US)$355.4 billion at retail worldwide in 2016 ($87.1 billion at retail in the U.S.). The not-for-profit, full-service association sponsors the world’s premier exposition of products for the home, the International Home + Housewares Show, and offers its 1,700 member companies a wide range of services, including industry and government advocacy, export assistance, State-of-the-Industry reports, point-of-sale and consumer panel data through Housewares MarketWatch, executive management peer groups, a unique Web-based community at www.housewares.org and group buying discounts on business solutions services.
