Tax Reform And Your Shopping Cart

Published February 16, 2017 at 9:00 AM CST

In this Oct. 24, 2016, photo, trucks drive past shipping containers at the Port of Baltimore in Baltimore. President-elect Donald Trumps ambitious plans to revive American exports, keep jobs in the United States and encourage oil drilling face a home-grown threat: the surging U.S. dollar. Since the Nov. 8 election, the U.S. dollar has climbed to a 14-year high against the currencies of Americas major trading partners. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

This program is part of the #OnPoint100 Day Spotlight.

Tax reform — American retailers, importers, are warning of big price hikes. American exporters are celebrating. Plus: Warren Buffet dumps 90% of his shares in Wal-Mart.

While the world watches Washington’s uproar over immigration and national security, there are other big pieces in motion at the dawn of the Trump presidency. One of the biggest – taxes. A GOP plan would radically reshape the country’s taxes. It would deeply cut corporate taxes and wipe out incentives to move abroad. And it would add whopping big import taxes on all that stuff you buy at WalMart, Gap, Target. It’s a big deal. This hour On Point, in our 100-Day Spotlight, taxes, prices, jobs, and you. — Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Barney Jopson, U.S. policy correspondent for the Financial Times. ( @barneyjopson)

David French, senior vice president for government relations at the National Retail Federation. ( @davidfrench)

Grover Norquist, founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform. ( @GroverNorquist)

Josh Funk, reporter covering Berkshire Hathaway, TD Ameritrade and other Nebraska business for the Associated Press. ( @Funkwrite)

From Tom’s Reading List

Financial Times: Trump and the tax plan threatening to split corporate America — “Republicans are still promising the most sweeping changes since the Reagan reforms of 1986. But the only firm proposal on the table — from the House of Representatives — includes a 20 per cent tax on imports.”

Forbes: OMG! House Republicans are preparing to hit consumers with a horrible new tax that will harm Trump and hurt the economy — “Importers will no longer be allowed to deduct an item as a business expense. To simplify things, let’s say a store imports a pair of sneakers for $40 and then sells them for $50, making a $10 profit on which it would owe taxes. Under the Republican plan, however, the retailer wouldn’t be able to deduct the $40 it paid for the sneakers. In fact, it would owe taxes on the entire $50! And who, ultimately, pays this tax? You, the consumer, in the form of higher prices or fewer choices of where you can shop.”

Tax Policy Center: Understanding the Republicans’ corporate tax reform proposals — “Rough estimates suggest that setting the DBCFT rate at around 30 percent for all businesses would eliminate the revenue shortfall … The corporate tax is ripe for reform. The DBFCT is an excellent way to kick-start the needed discussion.”