Containers of China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited are seen at the Port of Long Beach, Los Angeles County, the United States, on Feb. 27, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Ying)
WASHINGTON, May 9 (Xinhua) -- A wide range of U.S. industry associations have expressed strong opposition to Washington's threat to raise tariffs on Chinese imports this week.
"For 10 months, Americans have been paying the full cost of the trade war, not China," said the Tariffs Hurt the Heartland campaign, after the U.S. government announced that tariffs on 200 billion U.S. dollars of Chinese imports will go up from 10 percent to 25 percent on Friday.
"To be clear, tariffs are taxes that Americans pay, and this sudden increase with little notice will only punish U.S. farmers, businesses and consumers," the anti-tariff campaign added in a statement.
"Doubling down on taxing Americans as a negotiating tactic only makes a bad situation worse," it said. "This isn't leverage to get a better deal; it's taking money out of the pockets of hard-working Americans."
Cleveland business and agricultural leaders gather on May 6 at local distiller Cleveland Whiskey to discuss the impact of trade tensions and looming tariff increases to the region's businesses, consumers and farmers. (Xinhua/Courtesy of Tariffshurt.com)
In addition, "raising tariffs to 25 percent could cost nearly one million American jobs," it said, citing a report conducted by Trade Partnership Worldwide, LLC, an international trade and economic consulting firm.
"This decision will also roil financial markets and increase the likelihood of retaliation on American farmers who are facing the lowest income levels in years," added the campaign, which comprises over 150 of America's largest trade organizations from across different industries.
Naomi Wilson, the Information Technology Industry Council's senior director of policy for Asia, also pointed out that "increasing tariffs would only continue to harm American consumers and businesses of all sizes and across all sectors, as well as threaten American economic growth and leadership in innovation."
Rick Kimberley, president of Kimberley Farm Inc., poses for a photo at his family farm in Maxwell, Iowa, the United States, on March 17, 2019. It would be a timely piece of good news for American farmers if the United States and China could reach a deal to defuse bilateral trade tensions before the Spring planting season, Rick Kimberley told Xinhua in a recent interview. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)
Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, said "implementing these 25 percent tariffs on just five-days notice would roil our markets, damage U.S. businesses and do serious harm to Americans' retirement funds and pensions."
In the eyes of Auto Care Association President and CEO Bill Hanvey, the move would have "an immediate negative impact" on not only the U.S. businesses that manufacture and distribute auto parts, but also the motoring public who will see higher prices on a wide range of products, including important safety-related components.
Containers of China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited are seen at the Port of Long Beach, Los Angeles County, the United States, on Feb. 27, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Ying)
Many urged the U.S. government to rethink. "We urge the administration to reconsider this tax hike on Americans and stay at the bargaining table until a deal is reached," the National Retail Federation's senior vice president for government relations, David French, said in a statement.
American Apparel & Footwear Association President and CEO Rick Helfenbein also urged Washington to "refrain from imposing these additional tariffs and instead focus on negotiating and concluding the trade deal with China."
