Bicameral Bill Introduced to Require Tariff Cost on Listings
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., are teaming to introduce a bill called the Truth in Tariffs Act.
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The bill, if it becomes law, would give the Federal Trade Commission the authority to promulgate rules on how medium-sized and large businesses display the cost of tariffs hiked on imports since President Donald Trump began his second term.
Small businesses would be exempt from the requirement. How small business is defined varies widely. For instance, with retailers, it's based on annual revenue, and depending on the product sold, small is under $47 million annually, or under $9 million annually, or at many points in between. For wholesalers, the parameters range between $100 million annually and $250 million annually, depending on the product. For builders of single-family houses, it's companies with less than $45 million in annual sales. For most construction and repair contractors, it's under $19 million in annual sales. For manufacturing operations, it's based on the number of average employees, which also ranges by product.
Raskin told reporters at the Capitol: "This is a matter of basic transparency and pricing for consumers."
He said it would prevent businesses from hiking prices more than the cost of the tariff. "We don’t want the tariff to be an excuse for price gouging," he said.
Raskin said Democratic sponsors of the bill would try to get Republicans to agree to sign a discharge petition. If a majority of House members sign on, it could force leadership to hold a vote on the bill.
The men didn't have an answer for how the sellers of complex manufactured goods, which have many imported components, many from suppliers that may not directly sell to the manufacturer, would calculate the total tariff impact.
Schumer said the businesses he has talked to like the bill, despite the compliance burden, "because it puts pressure on Congress to overturn tariffs."