Image courtesy of OAA

From the October OAA Newsletter

Which products are affected?
Eyewear cases and cleaning cloths, contact lenses, corrective and non-corrective glasses/sunglasses, parts, mounting frames—essentially every aspect of hardware.

When will the tariffs take effect?
Eyewear cases and cleaning cloths from China were subject to an additional 10% tariff as of Sept. 24, 2018, and a tariff increase to 25% in May 2019. Tariffs on these goods (Section 301:List 3) were due to increase from 25% to 30% on October 1, 2019; per a presidential tweet on September 11, 2019, the increase will be delayed until October 15, 2019, pending official notice. 

Other optical goods (contact lenses, corrective and non-corrective glasses/sunglasses, parts, mounting frames, essentially every aspect of hardware) faced a 15% tariff September 15th for some (see list 4A) and December 15th for others (see list 4B).

Will companies who import optical goods from China increase their prices?
At this writing, many companies are taking a ‘wait-and-see’ approach to price increases. However, all companies related will soon have to make decisions about if and when to increase prices, and what type of increases to make. A 15%-25% tariff on all optical goods will most assuredly effect our industry widely.

Four tariff lists have been released thus far. Below is a description of each. List 4A contains most of the ophthalmic items.

Section 301 Tariff: List 1
List 1 products, with a total import value of $34 billion, were subject to an additional 25% tariff as of July 19, 2018.  (This list includes manufacturing machinery and parts, as well as optical instruments.) Tariffs on List 1 goods were due to increase from 25% to 30% on October 1, 2019. Per a presidential tweet on September 11, 2019, the increase will be delayed until October 15, 2019, pending official notice. Comments on this proposal were due by Sept. 20.

Section 301 Tariff: List 2
List 2 products,with a total import value of $16 billion, were subject to an additional 25% tariff as of Aug. 23, 2018. Tariffs on List 2 goods were due to increase from 25% to 30% on October 1, 2019. Per a presidential tweet on September 11, 2019, the increase will be delayed until October 15, 2019, pending official notice. Comments on this proposal were due by Sept. 20.  (This list includes polymers, such as those used in making contact lenses, spectacle lenses and frames.)
 
Section 301 Tariff: List 3
List 3 products, with a total import value of $200 billion, were subject to an additional 10 percent tariff as of Sept. 24, 2018, and a tariff increase to 25% in May 2019. Tariffs on List 3 goods were due to increase from 25% to 30% on October 1, 2019. Per a presidential tweet on September 11, 2019, the increase will be delayed until October 15, 2019, pending official notice. Comments on this proposal were due by Sept. 20. List 3 contains eyewear cases.

Section 301 Tariff: List 4A & List 4B 
Goods on List 4A and 4B will face a tariff of 15%, not 10% as previously indicated, effective Sept. 1, 2019, for List 4A products and Dec. 15, 2019, for List 4B products. 25 products have been removed from List 4 due to health, safety, national security, and other reasons and will not face any additional tariffs.

The combined list 4 covers essentially all products not already subject to Section 301 additional tariffs. List 4A contains contact lenses, corrective and non-corrective glasses/sunglasses, parts, mounting frames, essentially every aspect of hardware. Cleaning cloths are also in List 4A.

Members can search every item and its corresponding list HERE in PDF format. Visit www.oaa.org for updates.