Auto Care Association Signs Letter Urging President Trump to Delay All Duties
By Camille Sheehan
BETHESDA, Md. – April 28, 2020 – The Auto Care Association joined hundreds of businesses and associations in the Americans for Free Trade coalition today, signing on to a letter urging President Trump to delay the collection of all duties and fees on imports for March through June 2020. While thanking the president for his leadership on delaying payment of certain taxes to help businesses with liquidity during the COVID-19 pandemic, the letter also asks President Trump to expand the current program—which only covers a limited set of duties on imports for March and April—by extending the period for another two months and including all duties and fees due on those imports.
In the letter to the President Trump, businesses noted, “First, we ask that you extend the program to cover imports made during May and June. Second, we urge that the program be expanded to defer the due dates for all duties and fees. Combined, these two actions would immediately free up billions of dollars of working capital for American companies… to pay suppliers, employees, service providers and other critical stakeholders. This cash is even more important for companies that have had to close their doors because of stay-at-home orders, leaving them with little to no revenue to make ends meet.”
“The Auto Care Association is extremely grateful for the president’s efforts to help businesses stay solvent during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Bill Hanvey, president and CEO, Auto Care Association. “We think with one simple initiative he could free up a great deal of working capital for our members. We have members paying hundreds of thousands of dollars a month in duties, and as they struggle with a once-in-a-lifetime business interruption like the current COVID-19 crisis, they have never had a greater need for their working capital.”
The Americans for Free Trade letter was signed by over 470 businesses and organizations of all sizes, representing retailers, manufacturers and other service providers, as well as farmers and ranchers.
For more information about the Auto Care Association’s on-going government affairs efforts related to the current COVID-19 pandemic, please contact Aaron Lowe, senior vice president, regulatory and government affairs, at aaron.lowe@autocare.org.