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Americans for Free Trade (AFT) Urges President Trump to Help Free Up Billions of Dollars in Cash for Businesses Fighting for Survival
WASHINGTON, D.C., (April 28, 2020) — Today, Americans for Free Trade (AFT) urged President Trump to take further action to provide relief to struggling American businesses by delaying the collection of all duties and fees. The National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) and National Ski & Snowboard Retailers Association (NSSRA) are part of a coalition of more than 475 businesses and associations that called on the Administration to expand its current program so that duties from May and June are also deferred.
“The Administration’s announcement last week to defer the collection of certain duties for 90 days was a good first step, but many companies were excluded from this measure and will still owe significant duties to the federal government during a time of economic crisis,” said AFT spokesperson Jonathan Gold. “As hundreds of small and large businesses face urgent liquidity issues, we are calling on President Trump to go further and delay all duty payments to help give companies the cash they need to stay open, preserve American jobs and be in a position of strength when the economy reopens.”
The Administration could expand the current Executive Order and defer collection of all duties without waiting on authorization from Congress. As it currently stands, the Administration is only deferring the collection of some duties and only for imports made in the months of March and April. Deferring all duties for imports made in March, April, May and June would instantly free up billions of dollars for companies, many of which currently have little to no revenue, to use to pay employees, suppliers, and other critical bills.
The Americans for Free Trade letter was signed by more than 475 businesses and organizations of all sizes, representing retailers, manufacturers and other service providers, as well as farmers and ranchers.
The full text of the letter may be found here.