Micro Electronics and GlobiTech were among the tech interests joining many hundreds of companies -- the vast majority in opposition to the duties -- asking to testify during four days of hearings beginning Aug. 20 on the proposed third tranche of Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on an estimated $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.

The proposed third tranche of 25 percent Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports targets equipment “critical for the build-out” of 5G, IoT and “big data,” says K.C. Swanson, Telecommunications Industry Association director-global policy, in prehearing testimony posted Monday in docket USTR-2018-0026. Swanson is scheduled to testify Aug. 21, day two of four days of Office of U.S. Trade Representative hearings. Requests to testify were due Monday under the deadline USTR Robert Lighthizer extended when announcing Aug. 1 he will “consider,” under President Donald Trump’s direction, raising the third tranche of proposed duties to 25 percent from 10 percent (see 1808010073). The “network-based technologies” in which U.S. companies lead the world “depend on underlying hardware,” said Swanson. “Taxing that hardware,” as tariffs on network servers, gateways and modems would do, will raise costs for consumers, she writes: That "stands to discourage U.S. adoption of advanced technologies in a period of growing global competition.” Duties "will hit so many of the telecom products essential to the operation of the internet,” Swanson says. More than 10 million Americans use the computer networking products Zyxel Communications sources from China under certain tariffs hearings for home internet access and for “network computers in the workplace,” commented the company. Its largest customers include CenturyLink, Cincinnati Bell and Hawaiian Telecom, it said. Zyxel’s router products “are used to proliferate broadband throughout the U.S.,” it said. With 34 million Americans lacking "an affordable and reliable broadband connection,” government levies would run counter to DCC and other broadband initiatives, the company said.

The proposed third tranche of 25 percent Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports targets equipment “critical for the build-out” of 5G, IoT and “big data,” says K.C. Swanson, Telecommunications Industry Association director-global policy, in prehearing testimony posted Monday in docket USTR-2018-0026. Swanson is scheduled to testify Aug. 21, day two of four days of Office of U.S. Trade Representative hearings. Requests to testify were due Monday under the deadline USTR Robert Lighthizer extended when announcing Aug. 1 he will “consider,” under President Donald Trump’s direction, raising the third tranche of proposed duties to 25 percent from 10 percent (see 1808010073). The “network-based technologies” in which U.S. companies lead the world “depend on underlying hardware,” said Swanson. “Taxing that hardware,” as tariffs on network servers, gateways and modems would do, will raise costs for consumers, she writes: That "stands to discourage U.S. adoption of advanced technologies in a period of growing global competition.” Duties "will hit so many of the telecom products essential to the operation of the internet,” Swanson says. More than 10 million Americans use the computer networking products Zyxel Communications sources from China under certain tariffs hearings for home internet access and for “network computers in the workplace,” commented the company. Its largest customers include CenturyLink, Cincinnati Bell and Hawaiian Telecom, it said. Zyxel’s router products “are used to proliferate broadband throughout the U.S.,” it said. With 34 million Americans lacking "an affordable and reliable broadband connection,” government levies would run counter to DCC and other broadband initiatives, the company said.

Parties now have until Sept. 14 to respond to requests for Supreme Court review of the prior FCC's 2015 Title II Communications Act net neutrality order. The court Thursday granted for all respondents a request of intervenor-defendants for a 30-day extension to file their briefs in opposition to cert petitions in Daniel Berninger et al. v. FCC, No. 17-498 (Aug. 9 grant notice) and consolidated cases. Kevin Russell, counsel for Free Press, New America's Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge, on behalf of his clients and other private respondents sought the additional time to address issues raised by the solicitor general (DOJ and FCC) Aug. 2 in asking justices to vacate and remand the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's affirmation of the 2015 order (see 1808030041). Russell noted most of the intervenors are also petitioners or intervenors challenging the current FCC's order undoing Title II net neutrality regulation, and have related briefs due Aug. 20 to the D.C. Circuit.

Parties now have until Sept. 14 to respond to requests for Supreme Court review of the prior FCC's 2015 Title II Communications Act net neutrality order. The court Thursday granted for all respondents a request of intervenor-defendants for a 30-day extension to file their briefs in opposition to cert petitions in Daniel Berninger et al. v. FCC, No. 17-498 (Aug. 9 grant notice) and consolidated cases. Kevin Russell, counsel for Free Press, New America's Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge, on behalf of his clients and other private respondents sought the additional time to address issues raised by the solicitor general (DOJ and FCC) Aug. 2 in asking justices to vacate and remand the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's affirmation of the 2015 order (see 1808030041). Russell noted most of the intervenors are also petitioners or intervenors challenging the current FCC's order undoing Title II net neutrality regulation, and have related briefs due Aug. 20 to the D.C. Circuit.

President Donald Trump said in a tweet on Aug. 10 that a deal with Mexico is nearly in hand. Canada will have to wait, and he plans to put heavy pressure on Canadian officials to make concessions, because "their Tariffs and Trade Barriers are far too high," he said. "Will tax cars if we can’t make a deal!"

The proposed third tranche of 25 percent Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports targets equipment “critical for the build-out” of 5G, IoT and “big data,” says K.C. Swanson, Telecommunications Industry Association director-global policy, in prehearing testimony posted Monday in docket USTR-2018-0026.

The FCC wants to dispose of NTCH petitions for reconsideration dealing with the agency allowing Dish Network to convert satellite spectrum for terrestrial wireless use, according to insiders and court documents. Related drafts were included in an array of items circulated at the agency last week (see here). NTCH had sought a writ of mandamus from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit over what it said were petitions trapped "in administrative limbo."

Sections 253 and 332 of the Communications Act give the FCC “ample authority” to act on local siting rules and practices that “unduly” slow the deployment of wireless infrastructure, including deployment of small cells in public rights-of-way, American Tower told the FCC. “Any curtailment of local siting authority through the exercise of such authority should be accomplished in a way that addresses legitimate concerns raised by local governments, which should be taken into consideration and accommodated to the extent that they do not unduly burden or impede the deployment of new or expanded broadband wireless services,” the tower company said in docket 17-79. “The ultimate outcome should be local siting rules that are reasonable, non-discriminatory and transparent.” Densifying networks for 5G “will entail the deployment of hundreds of thousands of small cells” and will be difficult, American Tower said. “Appropriate policies can enhance and expedite private sector investment in the integrated network infrastructure needed for next generation broadband services.”

The proposed third tranche of 25 percent Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports targets equipment “critical for the build-out” of 5G mobile phone technology, the Internet of Things and “big data,” according to K.C. Swanson, Telecommunications Industry Association director-global policy, in prehearing testimony posted in docket USTR-2018-0026. Though the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative hasn’t released a schedule of witnesses to testify at four days of public hearings on the tariffs beginning Aug. 20, Swanson is scheduled to testify Aug. 21, she said. Requests to testify were due Aug. 13 under the deadline USTR Robert Lighthizer extended from July 27 when he announced Aug. 1 he will “consider,” under President Donald Trump’s direction, raising the third tranche of proposed duties to 25 percent from 10 percent (see 1808010070).