Retailers unveiled a new ad Tuesday meant to criticize the House Republican import tax proposal, aiming to generate public opposition to the measure before Republicans release their tax reform legislation.
The National Retail Federation, a major group of retailers, announced that a 60-second ad bashing the idea of border-adjusted corporate taxes would air on Fox News’ morning show, a show thought to be watched frequently by President Trump, as well as on “Saturday Night Live.”
The campaign does not target any specific lawmakers directly, but it does represent an escalation of the retail industry’s effort to stop the House Republican plan before Trump weighs in on it.
“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,” said David French, the National Retail Federation’s senior vice president for government relations.
The ad spoofs the infomercials associated with the late salesman Billy Mays, offering a product, the “BAT Tax” for “border adjustment tax,” that solve the problem of consumers being under-taxed.
House Republicans have proposed taxing imports as part of a broader corporate rate-cutting reform that would tax goods based on where they are sold. Under the plan, companies would no longer be allowed to deduct the cost of imported goods and services, but would no longer pay any taxes on revenues from exports. In today’s system, U.S. companies are taxed on all profits, whether they are earned in the U.S. or abroad. Republicans say that the change would encourage more manufacturing within the U.S., and discourage companies from moving production overseas.
Retailers, who rely on imports that would see a new 20 percent tax rate under the plan, have rallied to stop it.
Republicans have argued that retailers and consumers would be better off under the reform, thanks to lower tax rates and a stronger dollar that would appreciate in response to the border adjustment.
