The International Trade Commission issued a general exclusion order banning imports of all collapsible sockets for mobile devices that infringe patents held by PopSockets, it said Tuesday. The ITC began the underlying Trade Act Section 337 investigation in May 2017 (docket 337-TA-1056), based on PopSockets allegations that more than a dozen companies in China were manufacturing and importing the cellphone accessories, which can be used as a grip for mobile phones, as a stand to position them on a surface or for cord management. The ITC set bond at 100 percent of entered value for covered merchandise while the Trump administration evaluates the exclusion order. PopSockets didn't comment.

Stakeholders blasted President Donald Trump's threats to impose new Trade Act Section 301 tariffs of 10 percent on an additional $200 billion worth of goods from China. CompTIA has “no doubt that China needs to be held accountable” for unfair trade practices, said Elizabeth Hyman, executive vice president-public advocacy. “But additional tariffs are cutting off our nose to spite our face,” she said Tuesday. “Rather than using the blunt instrument of tariffs on China, more energy should be devoted to working with the U.S. Congress to develop productive solutions." China's retaliatory decision to impose 25 percent tariffs on $34 billion in U.S. imports, mirroring the administration’s Section 301 tariffs announced Friday (see 1806150030), shows China "has no intention of changing its unfair practices related to the acquisition of American intellectual property and technology," said Trump Monday. Trump directed U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to “identify” $200 billion worth of Chinese goods for additional 10 percent tariffs.

Enactment of the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (HR-4943/S-2383) and the Supreme Court’s subsequent dismissal of the U.S. v. Microsoft “Ireland Warrant” case (see 1803230038 and 1804170040) mean more work ahead to determine the future of cross-border data rules, blogged Cisco Director-Cybersecurity and Privacy Eric Wenger. The act doesn't grant the U.S. government “sweeping new powers to reach data stored abroad,” as “governments have long claimed such authority,” Wenger said. “There is nothing specific in either the language of the [Cloud] Act or the leading decisions preceding its passage treating U.S. companies differently than companies headquartered abroad." There is “more work needed to ensure” the act and EU’s proposed e-evidence regulation “function effectively for law enforcement while protecting civil liberties,” Wenger said Friday. “To the extent authorities around the world spell out the circumstances under which they will directly compel providers to produce data stored beyond their borders, it is essential that they also address the potential conflicts of law with third countries.”

Google will invest $550 million in JD.com, China’s second-largest e-commerce site behind Alibaba, in a strategic partnership to reach Asia-Pacific consumers who are “ready to buy, but hard to please,” blogged Karim Temsamani, Google president-Asia-Pacific operations. The companies will explore new ways retailers can make shopping “effortless” and personalized for consumers, he said. JD.com will join Google Shopping and bring products to consumers in regions worldwide, Temsamani said. Asia-Pacific is one of the largest and fastest growing e-commerce markets, said the executive, with people in southeast Asia expected to spend $88.1 billion online annually by 2025.

Fossil watches that depend on a Bluetooth connection to a smartphone for timekeeping are best classified as smartwatches based on the radio transceiver, said Customs and Border Protection in a newly posted April 30 ruling. Fossil lawyers asked CBP in October 2016 for a “binding ruling” on the classification of Fossil Q hybrid smartwatches under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, said the agency. CBP responded that the Fossil Q lacks mechanical or quartz watch movements and instead uses its Bluetooth connection to set the time. Before a Bluetooth connection is made, "the watch hands are completely inactive,” it said. “Not only are they unmoving, but they cannot be actuated or manually adjusted by the user." Once the watch is paired via Bluetooth to a mobile device, the time is automatically synchronized, CBP said. "From that point forward, the Fossil Q autonomously keeps the time of that zone throughout any interruptions to the connection with the mobile application," it said. "However, even following initial synchronization, the time cannot be adjusted manually by the user. Instead, any adjustments to the watch hands -- based, for example, on a change in time zone -- are orchestrated automatically by the mobile application." Friday, the company didn’t comment.

May retail sales at electronics and appliance stores increased 2.8 percent year over year, said the National Retail Federation Thursday. Online and other non-store sales rose 9.1 percent. “The economy is looking strong and households have a solid financial foundation,” it said. Tariffs on Chinese imports or a trade war with China (see 1806130087) “would certainly be negatives that would increase prices and reduce both consumer purchasing power and consumer confidence,” it said.

CTA expects CES Asia to draw 500 exhibitors, 44,000 attendees and 1,200 journalists, including 87 reporters from 33 countries, regions or territories outside China, during its three-day run ending Friday, said Executive Vice President Karen Chupka in a Wednesday media briefing. Exhibit space is 2.5 times larger than season one in 2015 and 24 percent larger than last year, she said. Exhibitors are looking to expand brands and forge new partnerships, she said, and among the latest tech trends represented are 5G, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality and vehicle technologies, among 20 product categories overall. New this year is a dedicated AI space with 35 exhibitors, including Alibaba AI Labs, Arm Accelerator and Baidu. VR and AR exhibit space is up 25 percent over 2017, with 24 exhibitors, and among the 30 companies demonstrating 5G technology are mobile, automotive, telecom and healthcare technology companies, said Chupka. The startup area features more than 100 entities from 15 countries, she said, and vehicle tech, including autonomous driving, has a major presence, including driverless vehicles.

Senate leaders agreed Monday to include language in a manager's amendment to the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-5515) that would retroactively reimpose a Department of Commerce-imposed seven-year ban on U.S. companies selling telecom software and equipment to ZTE that the department announced last week it planned to suspend in exchange for alternate concessions. Commerce said last week it reached a deal for ZTE to instead pay $1.4 billion, institute major leadership changes and let U.S. inspectors monitor compliance (see 1806070040). President Donald Trump's push to lift the ZTE ban got Capitol Hill criticism (see 1805140062). Attachment of the language from Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and others came just before Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross briefed GOP senators about the department's actions. Ross didn't attempt to dissuade senators from moving forward with the amendment and there's no indication Trump will veto HR-5515 if it moves out of Congress with the ZTE language intact, given the bill's overarching priorities, Cotton told reporters. “I and obviously every other senator believes the death penalty is the appropriate punishment for [ZTE's] behavior," Cotton said. “They’re a repeat bad actor that should be put out of business. For eight years, ZTE was able to run wild and be able to become the fourth-largest telecom company in the world.” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he intends to support the amendment, which “really is based out of concerns that China is using communications companies as a means to conduct espionage." Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., said before the briefing he believes “there was enough support” for the amendment to move forward. But Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., later told reporters “we need more information from the intelligence community” before voting on the ZTE language. Floor consideration of HR-5515 was to continue Tuesday, after the Senate voted 91-4 Monday on a motion to proceed on debate on the legislation.

House Republicans went to bat for constituent tech companies trying to fend off Trade Act Section 301 tariffs of 25 percent on imports from China over intellectual property disputes. Seven GOP members from Texas want U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to heed “requests” of Dell and Hewlett Packard Enterprise to remove Chinese imports of hard disk drives and solid state drives, said a May 18 letter posted Friday in docket USTR-2018-0005. Ted Poe, Pete Sessions, Mac Thornberry, John Carter, Roger Williams, Lamar Smith and Bill Flores said the devices are “critical components, and major cost drivers” for the “cutting edge” servers and storage products Dell and HPE make in the U.S. Cree in the past decade invested $2.3 billion in R&D and capital expenditures in Durham, said Rep. George Holding, R-N.C., so tariffs on its LED imports from China would help non-U.S. rivals. The White House announced May 29 the USTR’s office will release its final tariffs list by Friday (see 1805290046).

NTIA is considering reversing its 2016 decision to transition coordination and management of the domain name system to the private sector, said a notice of inquiry this week (see 1806060036): “Should the IANA Stewardship Transition be unwound? If yes, why and how? If not, why not?” Comments for the inquiry are due July 2. NTIA Administrator David Redl and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in January expressed willingness to reverse the 2016 decision.