Bengaluru — Hundreds of US businesses from local bridal shops to multibillion-dollar retailers have submitted comments to the US trade representative’s office opposing President Donald Trump’s plan to slap tariffs on another $300bn of Chinese imports.
Diane Cheatham, owner of Diane’s Formal Affair — an Alabama-based women’s boutique — said new tariffs would completely shut down her American suppliers, who will be unable to come up with the funding to cover the additional 25% they would need to pay to import their products. Cheatham’s comments were echoed by many more US business owners, who said the new levies would hurt consumers and cause job losses.
Large public companies, many of whose shares sank in May on concern over the effect of tariffs on growth, also warned in broad terms of the trouble an outright trade war would cause.