Slowed growth in China reduced Apple's revenue in its fiscal year 2019 first quarter, Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a letter to investors. "While we anticipated some challenges in key emerging markets, we did not foresee the magnitude of the economic deceleration, particularly in Greater China," the company said. "In fact, most of our revenue shortfall to our guidance, and over 100 percent of our year-over-year worldwide revenue decline, occurred in Greater China across iPhone, Mac and iPad." The company believes the "economic environment in China has been further impacted by rising trade tensions with the United States," Cook said. The Information Technology Industry Council said Apple's news shows how the trade war can hurt U.S. interests. "Tariffs are a direct threat to American workers and companies, hindering economic growth and slowing hiring for tech and other sectors," said Josh Kallmer, executive vice president of policy at ITIC, in an emailed news release. "As long as tariffs are in place, companies of all sizes and their customers will continue to be hit with negative impacts. We urge the Trump administration to continue its critical negotiations with the Chinese government and work toward a long-term solution that rolls back tariffs, changes China’s unfair trade policies, and ends this mutually damaging trade war.”

The Fashion Jewelry & Accessories Trade Association (FJATA) and Fashion Accessories Shippers Association (FASA) will "merge operations to bring added benefits and value to their respective members," the groups said in a Dec. 31 news release. "FJATA will join FASA and Gemini Shippers Association as an independent organization within Gemini Shippers Group," the groups said. Brent Cleaveland, executive director of FJATA, will continue to head FJATA, "which will operate as an independent association." Cleaveland said "this formal joining of operations is a logical next step for both organizations." He said the change will allow for FJATA to "leverage the back-office operations and resources of Gemini Shippers Group, allowing for expanding services for the FJATA membership."

The trade conflict between the U.S. and China could benefit Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand if purchasers shift to those countries should the conflict drag on or get worse, according to a recent paper by economists working at the Asian Development Bank.

Christmas lights producers outside China appear to have doubled their volume of exports to the U.S. after the Section 301 tariffs more than doubled the tariffs on Chinese lights, according to the Coalition for GSP. The group decided to look at Christmas lights because nearly all of the imports happen from August through October, so the impact of the tariff jump on Chinese lights from 8 percent to 18 percent on Sept. 24 would show up immediately.

Although PricewaterhouseCoopers expects trade will not return to normal with China for more than three years, experts on a Dec. 20 webcast said clients are mitigating increased tariffs through a variety of strategies, including lowering customs value, bonded warehouse use, modifying tariff codes and negotiating with suppliers or customers. "Probably 20 percent can be mitigated without making any changes to the supply chain," said Scott McCandless, a trade policy specialist for the firm.

The three rounds of Section 301 tariffs since July on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods are costing the tech industry more than $1 billion a month in added fees, the Consumer Technology Association reported. CTA teamed with The Trade Partnership to analyze recent U.S. import data and found tariffs on tech products imported from China jumped to $1.3 billion in October, a sevenfold increase from the same month a year earlier. That includes $122 million more in duties on 5G-related imports in October, compared with $65,000.

GoPro will move most of its U.S.-bound action-camera production out of China by summer as a hedge against its products’ exposure on “any new” Section 301 tariffs list, the company said on Dec. 11. GoPro escaped tariffs through the three rounds of duties imposed between July and September. “Today's geopolitical business environment requires agility, and we're proactively addressing tariff concerns” with the move, Chief Financial Officer Brian McGee said. “This diversified approach to production can benefit our business regardless of tariff implications.” McGee spoke on a quarterly earnings call in early November of GoPro preparations to move production out of China if “necessary.” President Donald Trump threatened Sept. 17 to "immediately pursue" a fourth tranche of tariffs on $267 billion worth of additional imports if China retaliated for the duties that took effect Sept. 24. China did retaliate, but Trump never acted. GoPro didn’t comment on where it’s moving production to.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will support the new NAFTA, and will lobby for its passage, the group announced Dec. 10. CEO Thomas J. Donohue wrote that the group will be working to resolve a handful of outstanding issues, but only specifically mentioned the Section 232 tariffs on Mexican and Canadian steel and aluminum. He spent far more time scolding President Donald Trump for his intention to terminate NAFTA "in order to present the incoming Congress with a choice between the new agreement and no agreement. We disagree with this strategy." Donohue wrote, "Issuing this threat against a co-equal branch of government is neither necessary nor productive and could actually cost votes." A prominent free-trade Democrat in the House of Representatives made the same point on Dec. 10 (see 1812100024).

There's been some significant growth in imports of products eligible for Generalized System of Preferences benefits in recent months, the Coalition for GSP said in a blog post. The coalition, which advocates for keeping the GSP program in place and is run by a consultancy called Trade Partnership Worldwide, said October set another record for GSP imports. The GSP benefits in October saved U.S. companies $105 million, an increase of $12 million, or 13 percent, over the previous record set in August, the group said.

Importers paid more than $6 billion total in tariffs in October, the first full month that there were additional tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods, according to an analysis from Tariffs Hurt the Heartland. The group said that amount -- which is $3.1 billion more than was paid in October 2017 -- has not slowed imports on the tariffed goods, but has drastically cut exports that are subject to retaliatory tariffs. The group is funded in part by farm interests, who have been particularly hard-hit by retaliation. Their Dec. 7 release said that imports subject to new tariffs declined 0.6 percent in October, while exports targeted for retaliation fell 37 percent. About two-thirds of the increase is for Section 301 tariffs, while steel and aluminum tariffs cost an additional $446 million. The goods on the Section 301 list would have cost $394 million in tariffs before the action; in October, tariffs on those imports were $2.6 billion. CBP recently said it has assessed more than $10 billion under the recent Trump administration Section 201, 232 and 301 trade remedies (see 1811260010).