Washington — USTR’s latest round of tariffs in the escalating trade war with China is expected to have a significant impact on the internet economy, affecting products and services across the tech sector. While some products were removed prior to the release of final list, the new tariffs threaten to affect internet-enabled devices, servers, and other products necessary for cloud services and to slow the deployment of 5G networks.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association has criticized China’s discriminatory practices that are the focus of USTR’s Section 301 investigation in regulatory filings and has also testified in Senate hearings about China’s internet censorship as a trade barrier. However, CCIA has signed on to industry letters (here and here) opposing tariffs as the response to China’s actions.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President & CEO Ed Black:
“We are disappointed that the administration seems to continue to misunderstand the complexities and reality of global trade. There are many legitimate trade concerns US companies have in the global marketplace, but tariffs are unwieldy and often counterproductive to address those problems. We’d like to see the administration be a collaborative leader with like-minded countries to improve the global trading system.”