US retail group says extra tariffs on Chinese goods will cost Americans US$18 billion a year
- National Retail Federation urges Washington not to impose additional 25 per cent duties on US$300 billion of products from China
- It says new tariffs threatened by Donald Trump will be passed on to consumers and ‘it’s time to re-evaluate’ the strategy
US trade group the National Retail Federation has called on Washington not to impose additional 25 per cent tariffs on US$300 billion of Chinese goods, saying they would cost American consumers US$18 billion a year.
That is according to the results of the federation’s study released on Friday, ahead of next week’s meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 summit in Japan.
The study looked at key product categories for Chinese imports, calculating the estimated impact of the proposed tariffs on American consumers.
According to the research, the higher duties threatened by Trump would see Americans paying US$4.4 billion more for clothing from China. Consumers would also pay US$2.5 billion more for Chinese footwear, US$3.7 billion more for toys from the country, US$1.6 billion more for household appliances, US$4.6 billion more for furniture, and an extra US$1.2 billion on travel goods.
The federation concluded that the proposed tariffs of 25 per cent would be too costly for US retailers to absorb and would be passed on to consumers – and many shoppers could be unwilling to pay the higher prices.
US retailers had a limited ability to move away from Chinese suppliers and source goods from other countries, and it could take years to happen, the federation said.
