The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is urging the Trump administration to immediately implement a “tariff exclusion process” in order to keep the U.S. economy from falling into a recession and inflicting “irreparable harm” on small businesses.
In a letter first obtained by CNBC, the massive business lobbying group asked key Trump trade officials to automatically lift tariffs on all small business importers and on all products that “cannot be produced in the U.S.” or are not domestically available.
The letter from the Chamber’s CEO, Suzanne Clark, also asked the Trump administration to establish a process for businesses to quickly obtain tariff exclusions if they can demonstrate that import duties pose “significant risks to U.S. employment.”
“We are deeply concerned that even if it only takes weeks or months to reach agreements, many small businesses will suffer irreparable harm,” Clark wrote in the letter sent late Wednesday to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
“The Chamber requests the administration take immediate actions to save America’s small businesses and stave off a recession,” she wrote.
In an interview Thursday morning on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” Clark said she penned the White House because “we were just getting inundated by small business requests for information, for relief.”
Those business owners are “afraid for the very survival of their business,” she said.
Clark also explained why the Chamber is opting not to challenge Trump’s tariffs in court — as others have done — even though her group had sued the Biden administration more than 20 times.
“We do worry about government overreach” and “micromanagement,” she said. “But in this case, the courts take a long time. And what small business needs, what all business needs, is more immediate relief.”
Asked in a press briefing if the Trump administration is considering the Chamber’s request for tariff exemptions, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller suggested it is not.
“The relief for small businesses is going to come in the form of the largest tax cut in American history,” he said, referring to Republicans’ plan to pass a major tax cut bill this year.
Miller also said that President Donald Trump has “made clear” that companies that invest in the U.S. will face no liability from tariffs.
Pressed to clarify that he was rejecting the idea of short-term tariff relief for small businesses, Miller said, “It’s a yes on tax relief for small businesses. And again, you only pay the tariff for products that are made outside the United States.”
— CNBC’s Eamon Javers contributed to this report.
Correction: Stephen Miller is White House deputy chief of staff. An earlier version misspelled his name.
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