A group of more than 100 businesses and trade associations, including a number of top U.S. retailers, have launched a new coalition to stop the Border Adjustment Tax (BAT).
The American’s for Affordable Products said it would run a national campaign to engage consumers and show lawmakers that pursuing tax policy that will result in higher costs for shoppers on everyday items including food, gas and clothing is the wrong approach.
The BAT is a component of the U.S. House Republican tax reform proposal, which the organization feels could significantly hurt American consumers and the nation’s largest employers by increasing the cost of everyday products by up to 20%.
Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, said, “While well intended, a proposed Border Adjustment Tax could increase prices on a wide range of basic consumer goods, hitting the pocketbooks of middle class Americans. We urge policymakers to incentivize U.S. manufacturing in ways that don’t hurt the hundreds of thousands of American businesses who employ millions of American workers.”
In addition, leaders of the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) spoke out against BAT.
“Whether it’s the automobile you drive, the gasoline you use, the groceries you put on the table, or the shoes and the clothes you put on your feet and back, the prices of all of those things will get driven up by the Border Adjustment Tax,” said Matthew Shay, NRF’s president and CEO.
The website for the American’s for Affordable Products lists a host of retailers supporting the new organization. Among them are Walmart, Target, Best Buy, BJ’s Wholesale, Macy’s, Meijer, QVC, HSN, Walgreens Boots Alliance and Rite Aid. In addition, the International Housewares Association is also among those trade groups lending its support to the fight against BAT.