The Honorable Donald J. Trump
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001
Dear Mr. President:
As you consider emergency measures to mitigate the economic harm from the spread of the coronavirus, Americans for Free Trade urges you to consider taking swift action on a policy that would provide tax relief to millions of American farmers, manufacturers, families, and consumers without having to wait on action from Congress: suspending the additional tariffs placed on certain imports under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. These tariffs are taxes that Americans pay.
According to research by Trade Partnership Worldwide LLC, suspending the Section 301 and 232 tariffs currently imposed on imports from China, and China’s associated retaliation, would provide a boost to the U.S. economy of over $75 billion, or 0.4 percent of U.S. GDP, returning discretionary income to families, encouraging capital expenditures by private companies, and instilling market confidence in decisive action to address the current economic situation. Moreover, as a set of policies that were implemented using executive authority, suspending these tariffs can be taken quickly and decisively by your Administration without further authorization steps from Congress.
Americans for Free Trade represents every part of the U.S. economy including manufacturers, farmers and agribusinesses, forest products, retailers, technology companies, service suppliers, natural gas and oil companies, importers, exporters, and other supply chain stakeholders, among them many small and family-owned businesses from across the nation.
Together, we urge you to provide tariff relief as one of the measures to help those hurting financially from the economic effects resulting from the current public health crisis.
Sincerely,
Americans for Free Trade
