Retailer CEOs meet with Trump on border tax

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Feb 17, 2017

At a meeting with CEOs from major US retailers on Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced that he intends to implement a major revision to the tax code that would largely affect the business of global retail.

 
During a breakfast meeting, Trump met with some of the chief executives of U.S.-based global retailers, including Target, J.C. Penney and Gap.

The President touted his goals, calling a tax code rewrite “one of the best opportunities to really impact our economy." He also said the retail industry is “very important to the country” and acknowledged that “millions and millions of jobs” stem from retail.

The retailer CEOs were in Washington to show their opposition to the so-called border tax, which would impose a 20 percent adjustment on imported goods while exempting income generated through exports. The tax code rewrite is designed to replace the 35 percent corporate income tax provision currently in place. U.S. retailers and some foreign consumer goods companies, including LVMH, are opposed to the concept, since most retailers sell a majority of goods manufactured overseas.

Following the meeting, Target spokeswoman Katie Boylan told Bloomberg that "the group had a positive and substantive discussion about policies that would promote economic growth and job creation."

The Retail Industry Leaders Association, the group spearheading the effort against the proposed border tax, said in a statement: "We had a positive and productive conversation with President Trump about the important role the retail industry plays in our national economy. We stressed the importance of taking a thoughtful approach to tax reform for both individuals and corporations.”