Advertisement Continue reading the main storyThe battle could not only jeopardize Mr. Trump’s second major legislative initiative, but also redefine the boundaries of conservative economic policy. Retailers that import many of their goods are lobbying against the idea, while domestic manufacturers like Boeing and Caterpillar — whose interests figure heavily in Mr. Trump’s economic thinking — are supporting it. Americans for Prosperity is calling on Mr. Trump to rely more on spending cuts, rather than on a border adjustment tax, to finance the tax overhaul. In an interview with Reuters in late February, Mr. Trump embraced the notion of a border tax. For Mr. Ryan, who holds more conventional free-trade views than Mr. Trump, the new tax provides a way to satisfy Mr. Trump’s protectionist impulses without imposing punitive, and potentially even more disruptive, tariffs.

Source: New York Times April 01, 2017 15:42 UTC