GOP tax plan's impacts on WTO commitments, importers debated at hearing

摘要

Lawmakers and witnesses on May 23 sparred over whether a border adjustment tax would run afoul of World Trade Organization commitments, as well as the impact of a BAT on import-reliant sectors of the U.S. economy - including retailers - as the House Ways & Means Committee held its second hearing on comprehensive tax reform. The BAT proposal - a central feature of Ways & Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady's (R-TX) draft tax reform package - was supported during the hearing by most Republican members of the panel and uniformly opposed by Democrats. Two committee Republicans - Reps. Erik Paulsen (MN) and Jim Renacci (OH) - expressed strong reservations about the BAT plan, while several others said they wanted more information on how it would affect their constituents.