Sonos supports recommendations of Chief Administrative Law Judge Charles Bullock at the International Trade Commission to slap Google with a cease and desist order, preventing it from circumventing the judge’s recommended import ban on smart speakers and other devices that he found to infringe five Sonos multiroom audio patents, said Sonos in redacted Dec. 2 comments (login required) posted Monday in docket 337-TA-1191. Google responded (login required) that the ITC should reject Bullock’s call for “sweeping remedial orders” that would deprive U.S. consumers of its “cutting-edge and life-enhancing household products.” The ITC scheduled a final decision for Jan. 6. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative would have until early March to endorse or reject the ITC’s final determination, or take no action. The filings were the companies' last chance to state their case (see 2002060070).
The “harmful” Section 301 tariffs on Chinese semiconductor imports “are exacerbating the ongoing chip shortage and slowing our economy,” and they should be eliminated, blogged the Semiconductor Industry Association, following up on Dec. 1 comments urging the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to reinstate previously extended tariff exclusions. The tariffs, “in their most direct effect,” add 25% to the cost of covered semiconductors, and subsequently contribute to inflationary price increases driven by global shortages and rising demand, said SIA Wednesday. The tariffs “are disproportionately harming the U.S. semiconductor industry and broader U.S. interests, all while failing to put real pressure on the Chinese government to change its unfair trade practices,” it said. USTR didn't comment Thursday.
The U.S. and its trade allies increasingly worry about the “digital authoritarianism” by China and other “undemocratic” countries, including “intrusive surveillance and censorship,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in Q&A at a Georgetown Law Center virtual conference Wednesday. Their practices can “influence the ability of Americans to enjoy their civil liberties right here at home,” she said. “We will have to ask ourselves hard questions,” including whether digital commerce can “facilitate imports that are made with forced labor,” or if it can “exacerbate problems in illegal trade,” she said. The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry didn’t comment. Answering tough questions about digital commerce “is part of making sure that our domestic and foreign policies are aligned,” said Tai. "A lot of our thinking around traditional trade policies is still extremely relevant when applying the digital trade context.” Tai's prepared remarks are here. Also Wednesday, the Bureau of Industry and Security said it's adding companies including NSO to a list restricting exports due to surveillance concerns (see 2111030042).
The U.S. won't impose Section 301 tariffs on goods from Austria, France, Italy, Spain and the U.K. over digital services taxes, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced. Those markets settled with the Treasury Department about the transition from DSTs to a new approach for taxing multinational firms, USTR said. Tariffs on goods from India and Turkey, which weren't party to the settlement, remain suspended through early December, USTR said. Ending the tariffs on the five countries drew tech industry hopes for a rollback everywhere. “While today’s transitional agreement is a meaningful step, it is imperative that all governments urgently and fully withdraw their digital services tax measures,” said Information Technology Industry Council CEO Jason Oxman Thursday. The Computer & Communications Industry Association said it backs a "broader multilateral global tax agreement."
China was the unmentioned presence lurking among participants in the inaugural meeting Wednesday in Pittsburgh of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (see 2109290006), agreed panelists on a Center for Strategic and International Studies webinar Friday to discuss key takeaways. They agreed the meeting was a moderate success for setting in motion 10 working groups to address specific tasks before the TTC meets again in the spring.
Perkins Coie taps Eric Evans from Mayer Brown for Litigation practice as partner; he works on complex litigation and intellectual property and has represented technology companies ... Glen Echo Group hires Christopher Shannon, ex-Omnicom's GMMB, as creative director; Davey McKissick, ex-Forbes Tate Partners, senior director; Neville Martin, from Delucchi Plus, as director-finance; Doris Sump, formerly at International Downtown Association and Mercury Public Affairs, as senior associate; and Lama Mohammed as associate and after a fellowship at the firm.
USTelecom promotes Trevor Jones to vice president-government affairs ... Analog Devices taps Janene Asgeirsson from Acacia Communications as senior vice president-chief legal officer and corporate secretary ... International Trade Commission promotes Monica Bhattacharyya from its Office of Unfair Import Investigations to administrative law judge for Tariff Act Section 337 patent infringement cases.
Developing “inclusive” digital trade rules with Indo-Pacific “trusted partners” should be a “critical element” of a broader U.S. trade agenda “to counter protectionist digital economy trends,” safeguard U.S. workers’ interests and bolster U.S. opportunities, CTA, the Information Technology Industry Council, National Retailer Federation and 15 other groups wrote U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai Friday. USTR should take the lead in developing a new “plurilateral” digital trade agreement or pursue the expansion of existing pacts, said the groups, also including BSA|The Software Alliance, the Computer & Communications Industry Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. They urged USTR to “prioritize engagement with Indo-Pacific economies” to advance new digital trade rules and “re-assert U.S. leadership on trade policy in this strategically important region.” USTR didn’t comment Monday.
O’Melveny hires trial lawyer Timothy Durst, ex-Baker Botts, as partner, and his clients have been in technology, telecom and other industries ... Panasonic North America Chief Human Resources Officer Megan Myungwon Lee promoted to chairwoman-CEO, effective Oct. 1, to succeed departing Michael Moskowitz ... Connected TV adtech platform MNTN hires Joanne Bradford from PayPal-affiliated Honey as chief growth officer ... Office of U.S. Trade Representative moves Dawn Shackleford to assistant USTR for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, replacing Karl Ehlers, who retired in May.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking comments by Oct. 11, rebuttals Oct. 25, identifying online and physical markets it should consider including in its 2021 “notorious markets” report, says Monday’s Federal Register. The annual report lists markets singled out for “substantial copyright piracy or trademark counterfeiting,” said USTR. Its “issue focus” for 2021 “will examine the adverse impact of counterfeiting on workers involved with the manufacture of counterfeit goods,” it said.