Multi-Industry Coalition Urges USTR to Avoid Further Trade Escalation with China

The National Retail Federation and 150 organizations representing U.S.
retailers, manufacturers, farmers, technology companies, natural gas and
oil companies and other industries today submitted comments
to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on the
administration’s proposed tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports.
The groups urged the administration to avoid further escalation with
China and warned of the negative impact of tariffs on American
businesses, families and workers.

“Continuing the tit-for-tat tariff escalation with China only serves to
expand the harm to more U.S. economic interests, including farmers,
families, businesses and workers,” the coalition wrote in a letter.
“Our organizations agree that longstanding issues in China have
negatively impacted many U.S. companies, and we support the
administration’s efforts to negotiate meaningful, binding and long-term
solutions with the Chinese government, (but) applying these high levels
of tariffs on Chinese products will continue to miss the mark.”

“The negative impact will fall particularly hard on small- and
medium-sized businesses and their workers, who lack the scale, resources
and options to weather or adapt to these tariffs,” the groups said.
Tariffs “are counterproductive and so far have only produced increased
costs” for U.S. businesses and consumers.

The groups expressed concern over the administration’s suggestion that
the United States might impose tariffs on all Chinese imports.

“The effects of the administration’s actions will most hurt the very
consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses, manufacturers, farmers
and workers the administration wants to protect,” the letter said.
“Should all trade to and from China be subject to tariffs, the impacts
and disruptions to the U.S. economy would reach across the entire
country, from sector to sector, and negatively impact every American
family.”

The letter said imposing a 25 percent tariff on a total of $250 billion
in Chinese imports — including both tariffs that have already gone into
effect this summer and those currently under consideration – would
result in $62.5 billion in tariff costs for U.S. businesses and
consumers each year. By contrast, the U.S. government collected only $33
billion in total tariffs on all global imports in 2017.

In addition to the coalition letter, NRF submitted its own comments
to USTR regarding the impact of tariffs on retailers and consumers.

About NRF

The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail trade
association. Based in Washington, D.C., NRF represents discount and
department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street
merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and internet
retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is
the nation’s largest private-sector employer, supporting one in four
U.S. jobs — 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to
annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy.

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