CEO DATELINE - Retail group launches media campaign against border tax
CEO DATELINE - Retail group launches media campaign against border tax
- February 28, 2017 |
- Walt Williams
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The National Retail Federation has launched a television, print and digital campaign to sway consumers against a proposed border adjustment tax on imports to the U.S.
House Republicans are currently pushing the idea of a BAT as part of a package of tax reforms. President Donald Trump has expressed support for the idea of a border tax to help pay for the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border, but in the past he called the BAT "too complicated."
U.S. retailers fear a border tax would increase the prices of many common goods and drive customers from their stores. In a statement, NRF said the tax could raise the cost of food, clothing, gas and prescription drugs by $1,700 during the first year alone.
"American consumers are being asked to foot the bill for a new $1 trillion tax giveaway for multinational companies, and this campaign will make sure those paying for it know it," NRF Senior Vice President for Government Relations David French said. "We need tax reform that rewards entrepreneurs and allows businesses to grow and create good-paying jobs that lift working families up."
NRF's new campaign kicked of Tuesday with the launch of a new parody website—bat.tax—"advertising" the tax as a job killer. The association also started airing commercials against the tax on "Fox and Friends"—a Fox News morning program watched by Trump.
NRF also is planning to run digital and print ads encouraging consumers to contact their members of Congress to encourage them to vote against the tax.
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