Border tax called harmful to Tennessee businesses, families

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) released a statement urging U.S lawmakers to veto the Border Adjustment Tax (BAT), citing its impact on Tennessee.

“The Border Adjustment Tax would raise the price of gas, groceries, clothes, and other things Tennessee families use every day by slapping a 20 percent tax on everything we import,” AFP said in the release. This tax would also affect imports essential to Tennessee, AFP said.

“In 2014, the state imported almost $70 billion worth of goods. That’s worth nearly a quarter of Tennessee’s entire economy," the release said.

Currently, Tennessee is ranked as the third-most negatively impacted state in the nation, the release said.

In addition to a 20 percent product increase, BAT would also allow for an upward expansion of car prices and heavily affect small business owners. “The BAT would not only cause the price of each car made in Tennessee to increase by an average of $2,000, it would increase the cost of filling one up by as much as 30 cents per gallon too,” release said.

AFP said the “increased prices could mean sluggish sales, causing layoffs at plants that would leave families without income and hurt Tennessee’s economy.”

Congress should work to lower rates for families and business owners, cut government spending and close loopholes that aid special interests instead of enacting the BAT, the release said.