WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation (NRF) today warned consumers that U.S. tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese goods set to take effect Friday will drive up prices for a broad range of products, destroy jobs and hit the public directly in the pocketbook.
“With tariffs against China taking effect, American consumers are one step closer to feeling the full effects of a trade war. These tariffs will do nothing to protect U.S. jobs, but they will undermine the benefits of tax reform and drive up prices for a wide range of products as diverse as tool sets, batteries, remote controls, flash drives and thermostats,” an NRF news release said.
The NRF urged President Donald Trump’s administration to abandon its plans for tariffs “on another $200 billion in Chinese imports,” which it said, “will destroy thousands of American jobs and raise prices on virtually everything sold in our stores.”
“Reining in China’s abusive trade policies is a goal shared by many countries, but a strategy based on unilateral tariffs is the wrong approach and it has to stop,” the release added.
NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association. Based in Washington, it 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.
NRF says retail is the nation’s largest-private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs — amounting to 42 million working Americans and contributing $2.6 trillion to the annual Gross Domestic Product or GDP.
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