ETA to Testify Before United States Trade Representative in Opposition to Tariffs on Point-of-Sale Components and PIN Pads

Washington, D.C. – August 21 – The following can be attributed to Jason Oxman, Chief Executive Officer of the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), ahead of his testimony at the public hearings at the Office of the United States Trade Representative regarding the Section 301.

“The proposed tariffs would impact the cost of point of sale components and PIN pads without any impact on China’s trade practices. Protecting American intellectual property abroad is an important goal, and ETA supports the Administration’s diplomatic efforts to curb harmful abuses. We appreciate the administrations efforts to ensure that American businesses can compete fairly and effectively on a global stage, but increased tariffs on these discrete tariff lines would place disproportionate economic harm on small and medium sized businesses. Point of sale devices help power the U.S. economy by providing secure and affordable payments technology. We believe that point of sale components and PIN pads should not be included in any increased tariffs.”

This is Oxman’s second appearance before the interagency Section 301 Committee. ETA opposed the inclusion of cash registers and point of sale terminals, which were ultimately not included on the final List 1. The current list of twelve specific items all concern point of sale products or parts largely necessary to the specific tariff hearing that ultimately was excluded in May 2018.