Retailers “Extremely Discouraged” by Administration’s Announcement on Tariffs

Today, the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), the trade association for America’s largest and most innovative retailers, issued the following statement responding to the Administration’s latest announcement on the implementation of an additional 10 percent tariff on $200 billion worth of products by September 24th: 

“We are extremely discouraged by the Administration’s announcement to levy tariffs on millions of products American consumers buy every day,” said Hun Quach, vice president of international trade for RILA. “Tariffs are a tax on American families, period. Consumers– not China – will bear the brunt of these tariffs and American farmers and ranchers will see the harmful effects of retaliation worsen. We are disappointed to see that warnings from importers and exporters representing every sector of the U.S. economy have not been heeded with no time for mitigation."  
 
“We are thankful that the Administration listened to our concerns and removed items like car seats, some textiles, apparel, and certain consumer electronics. While we support the Administration's goal of holding our trade partners accountable, American families, not China, will be paying a new tax on everything from toilet paper to home goods to furniture and pet supplies.” 

In order to ensure consumer demands are met, retailers source where they can. Many of those items are made or manufactured in the U.S. but there are certain products that have no alternative sourcing options other than China. RILA analyzed the volume of imports of 15 items from the list of thousands of consumer products included on the latest 301 list.  
 

 

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RILA is the trade association of the world's largest and most innovative retail companies. RILA members include more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than $1.5 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs, and more than 100,000 stores, manufacturing facilities, and distribution centers domestically and abroad.