US goverment has decide to charge extra tax on goods made in China.Vacuum cleaner industries representive SharkNinja,Bissell and iRobot attended the 301 hearing and speak on behalf of Vacuum cleaner industries.Below is their full statement .
1.SharkNinja Operating Company
MR. BISHOP: Thank you, Mr. Sparrow. Our next witness is David Aquino with SharkNinja 18 Operating, LLC. Mr. Aquino, you have fiveminutes.
MR. BISHOP：谢谢你，Mr. Sparrow.我们的下一个见证人是David Aquino和SharkNinja 18 Operating，LLC. Mr. Aquino，你有五分钟时间.
MR. AQUINO: Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is David Aquino and I’m the Executive Vice President of Global Operations and IT with SharkNinja Operating Company, LLC, and I appreciate you allowing me to testify today.
MR. AQUINO:谢谢. 下午好。我的名字是David Aquino，我是SharkNinja Operating Company，LLC的全球运营和IT执行副总裁，我感谢您允许我今天作证.
SharkNinja is headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts and has operations throughout the U.S. We design and distribute 6 vacuum cleaners, kitchen and other small 7 household appliances.
SharkNinja总部位于马萨诸塞州的Needham，在美国各地开展业务。我们设计和分销6个真空吸尘器，厨房和其他小型家用电器。
We’ve grown our sales volume by more than five times over the past ten years. During that time, our headcount in the U.S. has grown from less than 100 to approximately 650 employees. Our growth has been fueled by research and development activities undertaken here in the U.S., and much of the additional headcount are engineers that work in high-paying product development roles. The majority of our products are produced by third-parties in China and are imported under a number of subheadings of the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule. We’ll comment more on the tariff codes in our written submission, but today, I wanted to focus on vacuum cleaners and related parts. Those products are classified under subheadings 8508.11.00, 8508.60.00, and 8508.70.00.
在过去十年中，我们的销量增长了五倍以上。在此期间，我们在美国的员工人数从不到100人增加到约650人。我们在美国开展的研究和开发活动推动了我们的增长，而且大部分额外人员都是从事高薪产品开发工作的工程师。我们的大部分产品均由中国第三方生产，并根据美国协调关税表进口。我们将会书面提交更多关于关税事宜的意见，但今天，主要关注真空吸尘器和相关部件。这些产品分类在子标题8508.11.00,8508.60.00和8508.70.00之下。
First, most of the intellectual property that we use is developed internally and we protect our intellectual property in the U.S. and elsewhere via patents. We rely on our close relationships with a small number of manufacturing partners in China, and we oversee them carefully. In addition, we have agreements with those partners that include robust intellectual property protection provisions and processes in place to identify and address counterfeit products.
首先，我们使用的大部分知识产权都是内部开发的，我们通过专利保护我们在美国和其他地方的知识产权。我们依靠与中国少数制造合作伙伴的密切关系，并会仔细监督它们。此外，我们与这些合作伙伴签订了协议，其中包括强大的知识产权保护规定和流程，以识别和处理假冒产品。
As a result of those measures, we’re not aware of any material misappropriation of IP relating to our vacuum cleaners. Therefore, we do not feel that imposing additional duties on those products would be practicable or effective to reduce China’s unfair acts, polices, and practices related to intellectual property.
由于这些措施，我们并没有感受到有任何针对我们吸尘器的知识产权滥用行为。因此，我们并不认为对这些产品征收额外关税对于减少中国与知识产权有关的不公平行为，政策和做法是切实可行或有效的。
Second, we cannot absorb a ten to 25 percent increase in costs for our vacuum cleaner products, nor can the retailers that we sell to. Accordingly, the cost of the additional duties, or at least some portion thereof, will need to be passed on to U.S. consumers. The end result would be an increase in prices on vacuum cleaner products that U.S. consumers use and depend on for everyday home cleaning needs.
其次，我们和零售商无法吸收产品上增加的10-25%的额外成本。因此，额外关税或至少其中一部分的成本将需要转嫁给美国消费者。最终结果是美国消费者用于日常家居清洁的真空吸尘器产品价格将上涨。
Third, by raising prices, we would almost certainly see a reduction in our sales volume, or we will be forced to absorb at least a portion of the additional duties ourselves. This will impede our ability to maintain our financial commitments and invest in new research and development activities.
第三，由于提高价格，我们几乎肯定会看到我们的销量减少，或者我们将被迫至少吸收一部分额外的销售量。这将妨碍我们维持财务承诺并投资于新的产品研发的能力。
As a result, our ability to develop new and innovative products and create new intellectual property in the U.S. will be diminished. Lastly, the vast majority of vacuum cleaners sold in the U.S. today are manufactured in China and moving our manufacturing operations outside of China would not be practical.
因此，我们在美国开发新产品和创造新知识产权的能力将会降低。最后，今天在美国销售的绝大多数真空吸尘器都是在中国生产的，将我们在中国的制造业务转移到中国以外是不切实际的。
At best, it would take years and a significant investment, since the manufacturing know-how, supply chain infrastructure, and specialized skills for our types of products are not readily available in other countries, including the U.S.
We’ve invested heavily in quality and supply chain oversight for our suppliers and replicating that elsewhere would take time and would create the risk of diminished quality of our products. To the best of our knowledge, there are no major vacuum brands in the U.S. that manufacture outside of China, except for Dyson, which is headquartered and conducts its R&D in the U.K.
最好的情况是，这需要数年时间和一些重大投资，因为其他国家（包括美国）的制造技术，供应链基础设施和专业技能并不是现成的。
我们在产品质量和供应链监督方面投入了大量资金，复制这些到其他国家需要时间，并且会产生质量下降的风险。据我们所知，美国主要的真空吸尘器品牌都在中国境外生产，除了总部设在英国并在英国进行研发的Dyson公司。
As a result of the negative impact that these duties will have on U.S. consumers and businesses, we respectfully request that the tariff subheadings covering vacuum cleaners and related parts be removed from the list of products subject to additional duties under Section 301. Thank you so much for your time.
由于增加关税将会对美国消费者和企业产生负面影响，我们谨请将吸尘器从301条款额外征税清单中移除.
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2.Bissell homecare
MR. BISHOP: Mr. Chairman, our first 22 witness on this panel is William Brennan with BISSELL Homecare, Incorporated. Mr. Brennan, you have five minutes.
MR. BISHOP: 主席先生，我们在这个小组中的第22位见证人是BISSELL Homecare Incorporated的William Brennan.Mr.Brennan，你有五分钟进行陈诉。
MR. BRENNAN: Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. My name is Bill Brennan and I am General Counsel for BISSELL Homecare, Inc. BISSELL is a U.S. company based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We were founded in 1876 by Melville and Anna Bissell and we remain family owned and operated. For 142 years, we have made and sold innovative and affordable products for home cleaning. We have over 700 employees in the United States and 1,000 employees worldwide, and we’re the world’s number one floor care brand. Last year, over ten million U.S. consumers purchased BISSELL cleaning devices.
MR. BRENNAN: 主席先生，下午好。我的名字是Bill Brennan，我是BISSELL Homecare，Inc.的总法律顾问.BISSELL是一家位于密歇根州Grand Rapids的美国公司。公司由Melville和Anna Bissell于1876年创立，目前仍然是家族拥有和经营。 142年来，我们制造并销售了创新且价格合理的家居清洁产品。我们在美国拥有700多名员工，在全球拥有1,000名员工，我们是世界第一的地板护理品牌。去年，超过一千万美国消费者购买了BISSELL清洁设备。
BISSELL imports these products into the United States from China and almost all are classified as vacuum cleaners. We are here to ask that you remove vacuum cleaners and parts of vacuum cleaners from the tariff list, and here’s why.
First, a tariff on vacuum cleaners will harm U.S. consumers.
Most of our products are sold at value price points to middle and lower-middle class consumers. BISSELL will have no choice but to raise its prices in response to this tax and so, these consumers are the ones who will be burdened. To the extent consumers choose not to purchase our products because of these price increases, then our retail customers and employees will suffer, and our continuing efforts to reinvest in our business with new innovations will be radically compromised.
And in fact, that compromise has started already. We were planning to add 100 jobs in Grand Rapids in the next year, but the threat of these tariffs has put the brakes on those plans, as we wait to see how the tariffs will affect our business. If the goal of this administration is to add jobs to the U.S. economy, the result of these proposed tariffs at BISSELL couldn’t be more counterproductive.
BISSELL将这些产品从中国进口到美国，几乎所有产品都归类为真空吸尘器。我们在此要求您从关税清单中删除真空吸尘器和真空吸尘器部件，这就是原因。
首先，真空吸尘器的关税将损害美国消费者。
我们的大多数产品都是在中低端消费者中销售的。 BISSELL别无选择，只能相应提高提高价格，因此，这些成本将由消费者承担。一旦消费者由于价格原因选择不购买我们的产品，那么，我们的零售商客户和员工将受到影响，同时我们再投资于业务上的创新将会从根本上停止.
事实上，这种危害已经开始了。我们原计划明年在Grand Rapid增加100个就业机会，但增加的关税的可能性已经为这个计划踩了刹车，我们需要评估关税将如何影响我们的业务。如果本届政府的目标是为美国经济增加就业机会，那么对Bissell附加的关税将起到反作用。
Second, BISSELL cannot currently source our vacuum cleaners outside China. We have been scouting for non-China sourcing options for years, to no avail. We know of two quality vacuum cleaner manufacturers in Malaysia, but our competitor Dyson, a U.K. company, has exclusive arrangements with both. And Dyson’s products are sold at much higher prices, over $300 per unit, which suggests a higher cost structure at those vendors.
Meanwhile, all vacuum cleaners at middle or lower price points in our economy, including those sold by BISSELL, are currently made in China. It’s a mistake to assume China’s cost advantage is based on labor costs. Rather, China has developed a unique infrastructure of capital investment and skilled suppliers to support the floor care industry in a highly efficient manner.
其次，BISSELL目前无法从中国之外找到合适的制造商。多年来,我们一直在寻找中国之外采购方案，但并没有进展。我们知道马来西亚有两家高质量的吸尘器制造商，但我们的竞争对手,英国戴森（Dyson）与两家公司都有独家协议。 Dyson的产品以更高的价格出售，每台超过300美元，这将对零售商造成更高的成本压力。
与此同时，我们国内中等或较低价位的所有吸尘器，包括BISSELL销售的吸尘器，目前都在中国生产。认为中国的成本优势是基于劳动力成本是错误的。相反，中国已经开发出独特的基础设施投资和熟练的供应商体系来高效支持地板护理行业。
BISSELL has strategic relationships with eight assembly facilities in Shenzhen and Suzhou and a network of close to parts manufacturers, each with substantial investments in injection molding, motor winding, wire and cord making, filter manufacturing, circuit board assembly, and other necessary fabrication operations and testing fixtures, which allow them to efficiently feed quality parts to our assembly vendors. These facilities combine to manufacture 160 different product platforms for BISSELL. And each platform requires almost 200 unique tools and dies.
If you do the math, this supply chain is molding over 30,000 separate, unique BISSELL parts. That is an enormous amount of production capacity, at least as far as we’re concerned. This capacity can’t just be picked up and moved. We recently moved a single platform and it took a year and a half in planning and another nine months of problem solving after the move. And that was a move to an already known and skilled supplier in the same region.
BISSELL在深圳和苏州有8个战略合作伙伴,每个具有在注射模制的大量投资，马达绕线，金属丝和电源线制造，过滤器的制造，电路板组件，和其它必要的制造和测试夹具，使他们能够有效地向我们的装配供应商提供优质零件。这些设施共同为BISSELL制造了160种不同的产品平台。每个平台需要近200个独特的工具和模具。
如果您进行数学计算，该供应链将超过30,000个独特的BISSELL零件。这是一个巨大的生产能力，至少就我们而言。这种能力并不能简单被拾取和移动。我们最近转移了一个产品，计划就花了1年半时间，在搬迁后又花了九个月的时间解决问题。这还是向同一地区已知的且技术熟练的供应商的转移。
Any transfer to a new supplier in a new country would take considerably more time and effort. Our company does not have the resources to move multiple platforms at the same time and it would take years to move even a share of our production operations. In the meantime, the cost increases driven by these tariffs will be magnified on the retail prices for our products, as they pass through the chain of distribution. This will compromise the value proposition we offer consumers, which drives our competitiveness in the market.
Finally, vacuum cleaner manufacturing is not a strategic technology identified by China’s Made in China 2025 plan.
任何转移到新国家的新供应商都需要花费更多的时间和精力。我们公司没有资源同时移动多个平台，甚至需要花费数年才能完成我们的生产运营。与此同时，这些关税带来的成本增加将放大我们产品的终端零售价格。这将削弱我们核心的价值定位。最后，吸尘器制造不是中国制造2025计划确定的战略技术。
And there is no reason to believe a tariff on vacuum cleaners will advance the goal to eliminate China’s practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and invasion. So, in sum, the proposed tariffs on vacuum cleaners and related parts will disproportionately harm both BISSELL, a U.S. company, and our value seeking U.S. consumers, through radical price increases. And there is nothing we can do to reduce our reliance on Chinese sourcing in the years ahead. For these reasons, BISSELL urges USTR to remove vacuum cleaners from the tariff list.Thank you very much.
并且没有理由相信真空吸尘器的关税增加将推进消除中国在技术转让，知识产权和侵害的行为。因此，总之，在吸尘器以及相关零部件的提议关税增加将导致价格增加,并最终不恰当地伤害美国公司BISSELL，以及我们的美国消费者.。我们无法在未来几年减少对中国采购的依赖。出于这些原因，BISSELL敦促USTR从关税清单中删除真空吸尘器。非常感谢。
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3.iRobot
MR. BISHOP: Madam Chairman, our first witness on this panel is Colin Angle with iRobot.Mr. Angle, you have five minutes.
MR. BISHOP: 主席女士，我们在这个小组的第一个见证人是iRobot公司的Colin Angle.Mr.Angle，你有五分钟来陈诉。
MR. ANGLE: Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Colin Angle and I’m the Chairman, CEO, and Founder of iRobot Corporation. On behalf of iRobot, our shareholders, and our 675 U.S. employees, thank you for the opportunity to speaktoday.
MR. ANGLE: 谢谢.下午好。我的名字是Colin Angle，我是iRobot公司的董事长，首席执行官和创始人。我们代表iRobot，我们的股东以及我们的675名美国员工，感谢有机会在今天发言。
iRobot is an American success story. I founded the company in my living room in 1990, with two MIT colleagues, and since that day, we have been at the forefront of bringing practical robots out of laboratories and helping people.
iRobot是典型美国的成功故事。我在1990年和MIT的2个同事一起在我的卧室创立公司，从那天开始，我们已经在把机器人从实验室中带出并帮助人们的前沿实践中。
iRobot developed the PackBot Robot with support of DARPA and later, the U.S. Army’s Future Combat Systems Program. The PackBot was the first ground robot deployed by U.S. forces in conflict and performed critical tasks, such as IED removal, threat identification, and forward reconnaissance. iRobot provided more than 6,000 of these robots, the majority of which went on to perform missions side-by-side with our war fighters in Afghanistan and Iraq. Over the past years, iRobot’s engineers and scientists have been at the forefront of robotics science.
We inspired the first micro-rovers used by NASA.
iRobot在DARPA和后来的美国陆军未来作战系统计划的支持下开发了PackBot机器人。 PackBot是美国军队在冲突中部署的第一个地面机器人，执行IED清除，威胁识别和前方侦察等关键任务。 iRobot提供了6,000多台这样的机器人，其中大部分机器人与我们在阿富汗和伊拉克的战斗人员一起执行任务。在过去几年中，iRobot的工程师和科学家一直走在机器人科学的最前沿。
我们鼓舞了NASA的第一批Micro Rovers。
We’ve provided robots for hospitals, helping doctors diagnose patients remotely. We deployed robots to Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, to help keep first responders safe during rescue and recovery efforts. In addition to the robots we have designed and developed for the U.S. military, we disrupted an entire industry through our development of the Roomba robotic floor vacuum. It is a product on which the proposed Section 301 tariffs will have effect and this product has been the fuel for iRobot’s innovation engine. iRobot has produced more than 500 U.S. patents and we have invested more than $740 million in research and development over the past ten years.
iRobot has over 675 employees in the United States, who perform the vast majority of all design, research, and development that go into our award-winning products. The artificial intelligence that enables iRobot to deliver uncompromised value to consumers is created by engineers in the United States. This work creates additional employment in the U.S., as our subcontractors and suppliers work to provide critical subassembly design and software. We use contract manufacturers .We have sold over 20 million Roomba products, and yet we are just at the beginning of providing homes with practical robot technologies.
我们为医院提供机器人，帮助医生远程诊断患者。我们于2001年9月11日将机器人部署到Ground Zero，以帮助急救人员在救援和恢复期间保持安全。除了我们为美国军方设计和开发的机器人之外，我们开发Roomba机器人吸尘器颠覆了整个行业。该产品一直是iRobot创新引擎,同时也在拟生效的301条款的清单中。 iRobot已经申请了500多项美国专利，过去十年我们在研发方面投入了7.4亿多美元。
iRobot在美国拥有675多名员工，他们进行我们屡获殊荣的产品中绝大部分的设计，研究和开发。 iRobot能够为消费者提供无与伦比的价值的人工智能是由美国的工程师创建的。这项工作在美国创造了额外的就业机会，我们的分包商和供应商致力于提供关键的子组件设计和软件。我们使用合约制造商.我们已售出超过2000万种Roomba产品，但我们刚刚开始为家庭提供实用的机器人技术。
The robot industry is nascent. We should be looking for ways to ensure that robotics is an industry in which the U.S. continues to lead the world. The United States is iRobot’s largest market, representing the majority of our sales. Imposing these tariffs, either at the ten or 25 percent rate, will bring disproportionate harm to iRobot and to U.S. consumers. We are aligned with the goals outlined by Secretary Lighthizer and in two cases, iRobot has seen firsthand how Chinese theft of intellectual property has been detrimental to our economy.
机器人行业刚刚起步。我们应该寻找方法来确保美国继续引领世界机器人行业。美国是iRobot最大的市场，占我们销售的大部分。以10%或者25％的税率征收这些关税将给iRobot和美国消费者带来不恰当的伤害。我们与Lighthizer部长所概述的目标保持一致，在两个案例中，iRobot亲眼目睹了中国盗窃知识产权对我们经济的不利影响
In each case, we have seen the Chinese government provide affirmative assistance to those stealing our intellectual property. In the last year, iRobot initiated a Section 337 proceeding at the International Trade Commission against 11 companies, including three 2 Chinese manufacturers, for infringing iRobot’s patents. In June of this year, Administrative Law Judge Pinder found two of our patents both valid and infringed, and has recommended a limited exclusion order be approved. In 2016 and 2017, we cooperated with the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York in the indictment of three Chinese citizens, who, through cyberhacks, sought to steal confidential technology and robot designs.
在每种情况下，我们都看到中国政府向窃取我们知识产权的人提供积极的帮助。去年，iRobot在国际贸易委员会针对侵犯了iRobot的专利权11家公司（包括3家中国制造商）发起了337条款诉讼。今年6月，行政法法官Pinder裁决我们的两项专利均有效并受到侵权，并建议批准有限的禁止令。 2016年和2017年，我们与纽约南区的美国检察官合作，起诉三名中国公民，他们通过网络攻击，试图窃取机密技术和机器人设计。
As a result of our 337 action, we entered into license agreements with several companies, allowing for the legal use of our patents. Leaving HTS 8508.11 on the tariff list may discourage others from entering into licensing and/or settlement agreements with iRobot.
由于我们采取了337行动，我们与多家公司签订了许可协议，允许合法使用我们的专利。将海关编码 8508.11留在关税清单上可能会阻止他人与iRobot达成许可和/或和解协议。
Additionally, the Made in China 2025 initiative is focused on industrial robots, those used for manufacturing of other products. iRobot is not engaged in the development or sale of this type of robot. iRobot will not be able to relocate our manufacturing and supply chain in the short or medium-term.
As a result of these tariffs, we would need to pass increased costs on to our customers. Higher prices will result in fewer Roomba vacuums being sold, and this would have a severe negative impact on this fledgling business, potentially stifling our ability to innovate and impeding growth of an industry in which America can and must lead the world.
These tariffs will undermine iRobot’s ability to maintain American leadership in practical robots, an industry that is poised to play a significant role in our country’s futureeconomy. This tariff will aid our foreigncompetitors. We ask that our vacuum products be excluded from the list of products subject to the Section 301 tariffs. Thank you.
此外，“中国制造2025”计划的重点是用于制造其他产品的工业机器人。 iRobot不参与开发或销售此类机器人。 iRobot将无法在短期或中期内重新安置我们的制造和供应链。
由于这些关税，我们需要增加客户的成本。价格上涨将导致更少的Roomba吸尘器被出售，而这将会对这一新兴业务有严重的负面影响，有可能扼杀我们的创新能力，并阻碍美国有能力且必须领导的这一产业增长。
这些关税将削弱iRobot维持美国在实用机器人领域的领导地位，这一领域将有望在我国未来的经济中发挥重要作用。此关税将有助于我们的外国竞争对手。我们要求将我们的产品排除在301条款关税的列表之外。谢谢。
