Ohio business groups oppose border tax
A group of nearly 500 small businesses, retailers and trade associations is using House Speaker Paul Ryan’s visit to central Ohio to talk about corporate tax reform and to call attention to a key part of Ryan’s plan that it says would hurt Ohio businesses.
Ryan’s plan to impose a tax on imports would raise costs for consumers for everyday items and put 1.5 million jobs at risk, according to the group, called Americans for Affordable Products.
“All in all, we think it is a very bad idea,” Domenic Federico, president of Columbus-based BriskHeat, told reporters on Tuesday.
Ryan, fresh off House approval of a health-care plan, now is pushing to take on tax reform.
He will attend a roundtable today in New Albany with Reps. Pat Tiberi, R-Genoa Township, and Steve Stivers, R-Upper Arlington, at Accel, a contract packaging company.
Ryan will talk with business leaders “about how fixing our tax code will create good jobs and bolster American manufacturing,” according to Ryan’s office.
Levying a tax on imports, called a borderadjustment tax, of as much as 20 percent is meant to help recover some of the tax dollars that would be lost because of corporate tax reductions.
Supporters say there would no net cost to consumers because the tax would boost the value of the dollar by roughly the same proportion as the hike in import prices, strengthening Americans’ purchasing power.
Backers also argue that the tax would mean more U.S. jobs because companies would be forced to bring production back to this country.
But Americans for Affordable Products says the tax could cost American families $1,700 a year in higher prices for food, medicine, clothes and gasoline.
A border-adjustment tax would cost BriskHeat, which has manufacturing operations in Columbus and Vietnam, sales and jobs, Federico said.
He said the company has written to members of Congress expressing concern about the proposal.
“A border adjustment tax would raise our prices significantly and make us not competitive in our biggest markets,” Federico said of his company, which exports about a third of what it produces and makes heating products for the biotech, aviation and power industries.
The notion that such a tax would lead to a rise in the dollar is speculative, he said.
The group is in favor of corporate tax reform but believes a border tax would end up being costly for consumers, said Brian Dodge, senior executive vice president of the Retail Industry Leaders Association.
“Tax reform is critically needed and we’re strong and outspoken advocates for tax reform,” he said. “The other thing that unites this group is their opposition to the border adjustment tax.”