Trade Row with China: Statement of SBE Council’s Kerrigan on the Ratcheting Up of Tariffs and Rhetoric  

By SBE Council at 13 May, 2019, 12:43 pm

NEWS

For Immediate Release

Washington, D.C. – Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) president & CEO Karen Kerrigan issued the following statement on the latest round of tariff increases announced by President Donald J. Trump and the Chinese government, and the escalation of the trade dispute:

“For the past year or more our message to President Trump and his team has been to reach a deal with China without increasing costs on small businesses. We have communicated that the longer the trade dispute goes on, the broader and more painful the effect on small businesses. Where the strong economy up until this point has served as a buffer for many small businesses, we have now reached a point where newly imposed tariff costs and deep uncertainty about how far this trade war escalates will drag down many more small businesses and the U.S. economy.

“Entrepreneurs definitely understand the need for market access in China along with enforceable measures that will wind down and eventually end their theft of American IP.  However, it is possible for the two sides to negotiate without ratcheting up tariffs and the rhetoric, which only ratchets up costs and uncertainty for small businesses. Unfortunately, the trade dispute with China also gets in the way of moving forward with USMCA, which will only cause additional uncertainty for small businesses and our economy if it is not approved. We urge the Administration to stay tough in their negotiations with China with regard to protecting IP and opening market access, but not at the expense of hard-working American small business owners and their employees. This can be done.”

Contact:  Karen Kerrigan, President & CEO, kkerrigan@sbecouncil.org

SBE Council is a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy, research and education organization that works to protect small business and promote entrepreneurship. For 25 years SBE Council has worked to successfully implement a range of policy and private sector initiatives to strengthen the ecosystem for startups and small business growth. To learn more, visit SBE Council’s website: www.sbecouncil.org. Follow on Twitter: @SBECouncil

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