Texas Border Business
By Neil Bradley
Executive Vice President, Chief Policy Officer, and Head of Strategic Advocacy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
There are more than 236,000 small business importers in America. If they maintain imports at the same levels, they face a significant annual tariff tax under the country-level tariffs announced July 31.
According to the most recent Census Bureau data, there are just over 236,000 small business importers. (Small businesses are those with fewer than 500 employees.)
Collectively, they imported over $868 billion worth of goods in 2023, the most recent year for which data is available.
In order to estimate the tariff impact on small business importers, the Chamber applied the applicable country-level tariffs announced on July 31 (or where applicable the existing tariff rate) to the known-level of small business imports.
Based on that calculation, we estimate that if American small businesses maintain the same level of imports at these new tariff rates, they will face a $202 billion annual tariff tax.
It is important to note that in some instances this may understate the level of tariffs imposed on small businesses.
For example, if a small business is importing an item made with steel from Europe, it will face a 50% tariff on the steel’s value share — not just a 15% tariff. These estimates also don’t capture the elevated 25% tariffs on autos from Canada and Mexico or the 25% tariff on auto parts from many countries. In other instances, this may overstate the tariff if they are importing an item, like semiconductors, currently excluded from tariffs.
Follow the link below for the complete breakdown:
https://www.uschamber.com/tariffs/latest-tariffs-spell-200-billion-annual-tax-for-small-businesses
