Retail CEOs Renew Border-Tax Fight At Meeting With Mnuchin

After months of uncertainty about a border-adjusted tax, retail CEOs are renewing efforts to quash the idea. Executives are planning to host a meeting with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday to reinforce their opposition to the tax policy, which is a centerpiece of House Speaker Paul Ryan’s agenda. Ryan’s plan would replace the existing corporate income tax with a 20 percent levy on U.S. companies’ domestic sales and imports. Exports would be excluded. The 10-person group that’s meeting with Mnuchin includes chief executive officers from both retail and consumer-product companies, according to Brian Dodge, senior executive vice president for public affairs for the Retail Industry Leaders Association. The lineup includes department-store chain J.C. Penney Co., apparel maker VF Corp. and battery producer Energizer Holdings Inc., he said. Retail CEOs took the fight to derail border adjustment directly to President Donald Trump during a February meeting at the White House. The president didn’t include the concept in a one-page outline of a tax plan that the White House released last month, and Senate Republicans have been very cool to the measure, which critics say would hit consumers with higher prices. Read more at Bloomberg.