CTA: Proposed New Tariffs Could Substantially Hurt American Businesses

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) denounced President Donald Trump’s proposal for likely imposition of tariffs on additional $267 billion worth of Chinese products. The press release by the Association warned that slapping of punitive taxes on more goods could hurt American businesses, its workers and the global standing of the country.

The statement issued on behalf of the Association by Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, stated that imposition of more tariffs is highly irresponsible. Furthermore, such tariffs could be legally questionable as they are retaliatory in nature and are not based on the required legal finding of unfair business practices by China. The proposal calling for more tariffs is out-of-time and could badly impact U.S. businesses.

Unfortunately, the administration is misguided on the issue. The imposition of tariffs could result in tremendous rise in cost of consumer products. For instance, the proposed 25% tariffs on printed circuit board assemblies and connected devices could lead to a price increase of up to 6%, thereby resulting in a minimum 12% decline in consumer purchasing, it noted. Furthermore, CTA warned that fresh round of tariffs could also lead to loss of hundreds of thousands of domestic American jobs.

The U.S administration had initially imposed 25% duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. In addition, tariffs were imposed on $50 billion of Chinese goods towards end-August this year.