Top business group: Yes to deregulation, no to blanket tariffs
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U.S. Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Suzanne Clark at an event in Canada in 2023. Photo: David Kawai/Bloomberg via Getty Images
America's top business lobby has a three-part wishlist for the incoming Trump administration: Roll back many Biden-era regulations, extend pro-growth tax provisions, and stay away from sweeping tariffs.
The big picture: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is rolling out its annual "State of American Business" program on Thursday, focused on what its leaders call "make or break" policies to supercharge economic growth.
- The broad-based tariffs Trump has floated could interfere with that growth, the chamber warns, even as many other elements of the new administration's policies are music to business interests' ears.
- ""Participating in the global economy, preventing the largest tax hike in American history, and reining in regulations have to be on this year's agenda," Chamber CEO Suzanne Clark will say in a speech.
What they're saying: "There are targeted tariffs that have a good use in global trade negotiations and then there are blanket tariffs that we think would be bad for American families and communities," Clark tells Axios in an interview.
- Clark says widespread tariffs would stoke inflation: "They are, in fact, a tax — they are paid by consumers and manufacturers and they would draw retaliation that could hurt our farmers."
State of play: It is unclear whether Trump will use presidential powers over tariffs in limited, tactical ways as a negotiating tool — or apply a bazooka-like approach of sweeping tariffs implied by his rhetoric.
- The Chamber, which represents 3 million businesses of all sizes, says they sees grave economic risks in the latter approach.
Between the lines: The Chamber and other traditional business groups have had an uneven relationship with Trump and MAGA-world. They are strongly aligned on deregulation, but less so both in trade and some tax-related areas.
- The Chamber, for example, emphasizes the urgency of extending "the competitive tax provisions" of Trump's 2017 tax law set to expire at the end of the year, like tax incentives for R&D spending.
- Some Republican populists have different priorities, and have even floated raising corporate income taxes to pay for them — contrary to traditional conservative thinking around tax policies that best fuel growth.
The intrigue: That Clark will speak in Dallas is no coincidence. The annual program will launch outside of Washington, D.C. for the first time as the group sharpens its focus on local and state matters.
- "While we're optimistic about what the Trump administration is going to do on regulation, we're gearing up for what could be a battle in the states," Clark tells Axios.
The bottom line: American business is going to get plenty it likes out of the new administration, but the next four years — and the shifting ideology of the Trump-era Republican party — come with risks, as well.
