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Coalition says tariffs must be removed after U.S.-China deal

Americans for Free Trade, a coalition of businesses and trade organizations, says tariffs must be removed in any final U.S.-China trade agreement.

Jonathan Gold, vice president for supply chain and customs policy with the National Retail Federation, says that should include U.S. tariffs and Chain’s retaliatory tariffs.

“If the whole point of the tariffs was to get China to the table and do the negotiations then once the deal is concluded those tariffs should be removed,” he says. “We don’t think tariffs were the right approach because tariffs are taxes that are paid by U.S. companies and U.S. consumers.”  

Americans for Free Trade sent a letter to President Trump this week asking for specific outcomes from the U.S.-China trade talks. The letter was signed by 150 coalition association partners.

Gold tells Brownfield the coalition is asking the administration to address enforceability issues and China’s unfair trade practices.

“We agree there has to be some kind of enforcement mechanism to make sure China lives up to what it agrees too, but that mechanism cannot solely be tariffs,” he says.

The groups are also asking the administration to clarify how a tariff exemption process would work.

“With list 1 and list 2 they provided for the exclusion process so companies can petition to have the tariffs removed from their products,” he says. “When a deal is complete, we have to make sure there is clarity on how it’s going to work.”

Gold says the coalition is pleased negotiations continue to make progress and is hopeful that a deal will be reached soon.

Audio: Jonathan Gold, National Retail Federation