RILA, NRF: Increased costs due to tariffs will destroy gains from tax reform
The nation’s leading retail associations were quick to respond to the Trump administration’s announcement on Friday that it plan to move forward and impose a 25% tariff on up to $50 billion of imported Chinese goods.
The Retail Industry Leaders Association and the National Retail Federation both say that the new tariffs would put the nation’s economic progress at risk. RILA stated that U.S. consumers and farmers will be the ones hurt most by the tariffs, not China.
“Tariffs don’t punish China, they raise the cost for consumers,” said Hun Quach, VP of international trade for RILA. “For many American families, these increased costs will wipe out any gains from tax reform.”
Quach called the new tariffs “a reckless escalation of the global trade war that will do little to address the underlying problems with China”
“With Canada, Mexico, the EU and China all promising retaliatory measures at the same time, America’s retailers, farmers, autoworkers and American employees throughout the global value chain are at risk,” she said.
The National Retail Federation also denounced the new tariff plan.
“Tariffs are taxes on American consumers, plain and simple,” said president and CEO Matthew Shay. “These tariffs won’t reduce or eliminate China’s abusive trade practices, but they will strain the budgets of working families by raising consumer prices.”
Shay recently appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” where he discussed how tariffs would erase the benefits of tax reform, destroy U.S. jobs and increase consumer prices.
A study commissioned by NRF and the Consumer Technology Association found that tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese imports, coupled with the impact of retaliation, would lead to four job losses for every job gained and reduce U.S. gross domestic product by nearly $3 billion.
Both RILA and the NRF called on the White House to change course and reconsider the tariffs.
“We urge the Administration to reconsider these actions before an outbreak of tariffs from all directions threatens the economic growth and prosperity we currently enjoy,” said RILA’s Quach. “In a trade war, there are no winners, only losers.”
The Retail Industry Leaders Association and the National Retail Federation both say that the new tariffs would put the nation’s economic progress at risk. RILA stated that U.S. consumers and farmers will be the ones hurt most by the tariffs, not China.
“Tariffs don’t punish China, they raise the cost for consumers,” said Hun Quach, VP of international trade for RILA. “For many American families, these increased costs will wipe out any gains from tax reform.”
Quach called the new tariffs “a reckless escalation of the global trade war that will do little to address the underlying problems with China”
“With Canada, Mexico, the EU and China all promising retaliatory measures at the same time, America’s retailers, farmers, autoworkers and American employees throughout the global value chain are at risk,” she said.
The National Retail Federation also denounced the new tariff plan.
“Tariffs are taxes on American consumers, plain and simple,” said president and CEO Matthew Shay. “These tariffs won’t reduce or eliminate China’s abusive trade practices, but they will strain the budgets of working families by raising consumer prices.”
Shay recently appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” where he discussed how tariffs would erase the benefits of tax reform, destroy U.S. jobs and increase consumer prices.
A study commissioned by NRF and the Consumer Technology Association found that tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese imports, coupled with the impact of retaliation, would lead to four job losses for every job gained and reduce U.S. gross domestic product by nearly $3 billion.
Both RILA and the NRF called on the White House to change course and reconsider the tariffs.
“We urge the Administration to reconsider these actions before an outbreak of tariffs from all directions threatens the economic growth and prosperity we currently enjoy,” said RILA’s Quach. “In a trade war, there are no winners, only losers.”