NRF Chief Blasts Administration on Trade War Impact, Before Friday Tariffs

Consumers are “one step closer to feeling the full effects of a trade war,” said National Retail Federation CEO Matthew Shay Thursday, before U.S. tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods are to take effect Friday. The tariffs “will do nothing to protect U.S. jobs, but they will undermine the benefits of tax reform and drive up prices for a wide range of products as diverse as tool sets, batteries, remote controls, flash drives and thermostats,” said Shay, who “strongly urged” the administration to scrap plans for tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese goods. Additional tariffs would “destroy thousands of American jobs and raise prices on virtually everything sold in our stores,” Shay said. “Reining in China’s abusive trade policies is a goal shared by many countries, but a strategy based on unilateral tariffs is the wrong approach and it has to stop,” said Shay. The Washington Post Tuesday quoted CTA CEO Gary Shapiro, referencing comments Shapiro made in a June 5 Fortune commentary: “Tariffs are Trump’s worst choice,” said Shapiro. “They don’t make us ‘great.’ Instead, they lead to retaliation," he said. "And as the rest of the world moves forward with tariff-busting trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other bilateral agreements, we will become further isolated as foreign markets shrink for our goods." Addressing journalists at CES Asia last month (see 1806130001), Shapiro said "nobody wins" in a trade war, and threats and discussions about tariffs cause "global economic uncertainty." He said: “Everybody loses when two major trading partners start disagreeing.”