WASHINGTON, May 15, 2018 – National Retail Federation President and CEO Matthew Shay took U.S. retailers’ concerns about protectionist trade polices to Ireland today, saying proposed tariffs and other actions will only drive up prices for U.S. consumers while doing little to punish China or other targeted countries.
“There is a risk of these threats escalating into a full-blown trade war with the Chinese announcing they will retaliate in kind,” Shay said. “Many industries, especially agriculture, are already feeling the impact, even without the tariffs taking effect yet. Our view is that trade wars are only good at accomplishing three things: raising prices, destroying jobs and, perhaps worst off all, injecting massive amounts of uncertainty into the economy and global supply chains.”
Shay spoke during a dinner held tonight in Dublin as part of the Retail Excellence Ireland association’s annual Retail Retreat conference, where hundreds of Irish retailers and other retail executives from around the world are gathered to address global issues facing the industry. The conference, which was also attended by Irish lawmakers, comes amid rising concerns in the European Union regarding the Trump administration’s trade agenda. Earlier this week, NRF launched a television and digital ad campaign featuring economist and actor Ben Stein, who reprises his role in the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and gives a lesson on how tariffs are bad economics.
Shay outlined the U.S. retail industry’s concerns over the administration’s steel and aluminum tariffs, proposed tariffs against China and the direction of ongoing negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement. Following are excerpts of his remarks as prepared for delivery:
Transpacific Partnership Agreement
“We were disappointed that the first trade action of the new administration was to withdraw from the Transpacific Partnership Agreement,” Shay said. “Remaining in the agreement and passing it would have set a strong tone from the start that the U.S. continue to lead on trade.”
Tariffs against China
“Long-standing concerns about China’s unfair trade practices do need to be addressed, but the administration is considering tools like tariffs that have never worked in world history,” Shay said. “Retailers depend on complex global supply chains and make their sourcing decisions six to nine months in advance of receiving products. Retailers are now in the final stages of holiday planning and the threat of tariffs is inserting a great deal of uncertainty in those plans.”
Steel and aluminum tariffs
“Pure and simple, this is a tax on American families,” Shay said. “When costs of raw materials like steel and aluminum are artificially driven up, all Americans ultimately foot the bill in the form of higher prices for everything from canned goods to electronics to automobiles.”
NAFTA
“The administration has talked a lot about renegotiating or even withdrawing from NAFTA. This would be disastrous,” Shay said. “It’s clear that NAFTA needs to be modernized, but this agreement helps ensure that American families have access to products they need at prices they can afford.”
About NRF
NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private-sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs — 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy.