Cassidy, Menendez Introduce Bill to Prevent Surprise Costs on American Businesses

Press Release

U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) introduced the For Accurate Import Relief To Aid Retailers and Importers of Foreign Freights (FAIR TARIFF) Act of 2022, which prevents surprise taxes from being levied on American businesses resulting from tariffs issued on "goods on the water" that have already been shipped but land in the U.S. after tariffs go into effect.

"Referees shouldn't change the rules in the middle of a game and tariffs shouldn't change in the middle of a shipment. Employers need certainty. This bill gives certainty," said Dr. Cassidy.

"While the goal of tariffs is to pressure foreign governments to live up to their commitments to American workers and companies and to create political pressure on an offending government by forcing foreign producers to make price concessions or lose U.S. customers, tariffs applied to "goods on the water' do not force foreign suppliers to pay additional tariffs, rather the burden falls entirely on the U.S. buyer and companies," said Sen. Menendez. "Our bipartisan FAIR TARIFF Act will exempt goods in transit from additional tariffs, something that should be standard practice."

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