Retailers launch campaign to eliminate Alibaba ‘threat’

Washington, D.C. - The Alliance for Main Street Fairness (AMSF) launched a television advertising campaign to educate lawmakers on what is says is the imminent threat posed by China's online mega-retailer Alibaba as it enters the U.S. retail market. Retailers are asking the U.S. House of Representatives to join the U.S. Senate by passing e-fairness legislation that closes the online sales tax loophole this year.



Alibaba is on pace to become the largest online retailer in the world. In one day, Alibaba had more online sales ($9.3 billion) than all U.S. online sales during the Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend. According to AMSF, Alibaba's emergence in the American retail market will allow them to exploit the online sales tax loophole that allows online retailers to avoid charging sales tax in states where they do not have any physical operations (stores or distribution facilities).



In 2013, the U.S Senate passed the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would close the online loophole and require all remote sellers to collect and remit sales tax just like their brick-and-mortar counterparts.



"Lots of politicians talked a good game this weekend, posting warm and fuzzy statements about Small Business Saturday and support for small businesses on their Facebook pages,” saidJoshua Baca, spokesperson for the Alliance for Main Street Fairness. “But we need Congress to do more than talk, we need them to act to support small businesses. There will be fewer small businesses to choose from next year if Congress continues to delay and gives companies like Alibaba a special tax advantage over local retailers."