Business Groups’ Gentle Message for Trump: VATs Aren’t Tariffs

Business groups are pushing back, albeit cautiously, against President Donald Trump’s proposal to use other countries’ value-added taxes as a reason to slam them with US tariffs.

Trump said in February that his administration would look at imposing reciprocal tariffs based not only on the tariffs that nations charge on US goods but also on their non-tariff measures. That includes VATs, consumption taxes that many countries levy on the sale of goods and services and that Trump regards as discriminatory toward US companies.

But several major business-advocacy groups and trade associations have tried to steer Trump away from that stance. ...