Trump’s Unfashionable Tax Idea

Over the last 20 years, my wife and I have built several fashion companies, including Lilla P and Leo & Sage, that we design and distribute. We employ about 30 people directly, and dozens more indirectly as freelancers and sales representatives. Entrepreneurs like us should be ecstatic over the pro-business rhetoric coming out of the White House and Congress. But we’re not, because they are considering unfair tax-code changes that, if put in place, could hurt businesses like ours — and millions of American consumers. The proposal in question is the border adjustment tax, which Republicans are mulling as part of a comprehensive corporate tax reform, and which President Trump has embraced as a possible way to pay for a wall on the Mexican border. The idea behind the tax is pretty simple. Right now, companies can write off the cost of imports, whether they’re finished products or parts that are assembled domestically. In my industry — clothing and footwear — 97 percent of what is sold in America is contracted out to mills around the globe, then import the pieces for sale or final assembly here. In a market where consumers demand low-priced, high-quality products, it’s nearly impossible to do it any other way; American mills are either outdated or too small, and American production costs are too high. Read more at The New York Times.