Arris emphasized “serious concerns” in meetings with aides to Federal Communications Commission Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel about “harmful effects” the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs will have on “U.S. 5G leadership" and broadband deployment, it said in a filing posted Oct. 23. The 10 percent tariffs took effect Sept. 24 on “core broadband infrastructure and networking equipment and other critical inputs for wireless and wireline connectivity, as well as consumer broadband equipment,” and “automatically increase” to 25 percent Jan. 1, Arris said. “At just the 10 percent level,” Arris estimates the fees will impose $200 million a year “in additional costs on its equipment and devices.” The levies already have had “serious business implications,” noting that an analyst downgraded Arris stock because of the higher expected tariff-related costs, the filing said. The tariffs “risk slowing deployment of 5G and broadband more generally, diverting resources away from 5G and other broadband research and development efforts,” it said. Arris also noted in the meeting the need for an “exclusion process” for the third tranche of duties to give affected companies “additional time to make adjustments to their operations and mitigate the harms.”
The Federal Communications Commission has noted an uptick in illegal imports of two-way radios that don’t comply with FCC rules, it said in an enforcement bulletin issued Sept. 24. A “growing number of conventional retailers and websites” are advertising and selling low-cost unauthorized two-way radios, many of which have been imported from abroad. “These radios must be authorized by the FCC prior to being imported, advertised, sold, or operated in the United States,” the agency said.
Nokia officials met with Federal Communications Commission commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel, and aides to the other commissioners, to talk about new mobile technologies known as 5G and potential issues created by tariffs. “Of particular concern to Nokia are the recent tariffs imposed on trade with China, which specifically target a wide range of components that are critical to 5G," Nokia said. “Unless exemptions are provided for these products, these latest duties threaten to raise the cost of 5G infrastructure in the U.S. by hundreds of millions of dollars. This is an important context that further emphasizes the need for the Commission to lower barriers to deployment where it can.”
The Federal Communications Commission Enforcement Bureau is starting to clamp down on the distribution of noncompliant Asian radios. “I’ve heard from multiple parties that some equipment entering the United States is either fraudulently displaying the FCC logo, improperly displaying our logo, or simply not in compliance with our radiofrequency emission and interference rules,” FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said on Aug. 3. “While it’s a difficult problem, I trust the Enforcement Bureau is looking into all of these situations. I have had a particular interest in looking into this issue as it relates to set-top boxes, and it is my hope that the agency can take action here, and elsewhere, in the very near future.” He had asked Amazon and eBay for help with the issue (see 1805290027). Last week, the bureau issued a citation and order against Amcrest Industries for marketing a handheld radio that allegedly doesn’t comply with rules.
Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Mike O'Rielly asked the CEOs of Amazon and eBay for those companies' help in cracking down on video set-top boxes that fraudulently carry the FCC's logo indicating they comply with the agency's equipment authorization or boxes that don't comply with those authorization requirements. In a letter to Amazon's Jeff Bezos and eBay's Devin Wenig dated May 25, O'Rielly said the FCC doesn't have an obligation to crack down on unauthorized set-tops, but many such boxes are being used in pirating of video content. He asked that the online retailers commit to removing from their sites any devices with fraudulent FCC logos or devices that haven't been certified if the agency brings those devices to the companies' attention, with supporting evidence. He also asked the companies to give the FCC names of device manufacturers, distributors and suppliers "if the situation arises."
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The Federal Communications Commission recently posted some guidance on the use of the Suppliers Declaration of Conformity by radio frequency device importers. The April 5 guidance from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology details the SDoC procedures created last year when the agency ended Form 740 filing requirements (see 1711010011).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for 2017 in case they were missed.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission on Dec. 1 asking the agency to reconsider its treatment of a customs broker as a potential "responsible party" for radio frequency device import compliance. The FCC updated its regulations to remove Form 740 filing requirements for RF device imports, but retained compliance requirements and said a customs broker can be a "responsible party" for import compliance (see 1711010011). The new rules impose "unreasonable responsibilities on customs brokers," the NCBFAA said.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America filed a petition for reconsideration with the Federal Communications Commission over recent agency rule changes involving radiofrequency device imports.