(Washington, July 29) - Ranking Member Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today led the entire Massachusetts congressional delegation – Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Representatives Richard Neal (MA-01), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), Katherine Clark (MA-05), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), and Bill Keating (MA-09) – in writing to Susan M. Collins, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, requesting additional information on the impact of tariffs on small businesses, including crosstabulations showing the expected and realized impacts of tariffs on small businesses broken down by industry, importer status, and firm size.
In the letter, the lawmakers write, “Recent tariff actions announced by President Trump, including a proposed 10 percent across-the-board tariff and higher, targeted rates on certain trading partners, are already causing hardship in our communities. Small firms across Massachusetts tell us they face rising input costs and price uncertainty, and they question how much of those costs they can pass on to customers without losing sales. National reporting indicates that U.S. businesses are bracing for broader supply chain disruption as these measures roll out. Federal Reserve Beige Book reporting similarly points to tariff-related price pressures emerging in several regions, including the Boston District.”
The lawmakers request the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston provide:
- Follow-up surveys on the impacts of tariffs on small businesses;
- Crosstabulations of the data by industry, importer status, and firm size;
- A breakdown of New England and, if the sample allows, Massachusetts-specific data;
- Data around whether tariff?related cost pressure has impacted hiring plans, hours, or wages;
- Data around whether tariff-related cost pressure has impacted growth and investment plans for small businesses, including consideration or actions towards closure;
- Data around whether tariff-related cost pressure has increased costs for consumers.
On May 5, Ranking Member Markey introduced the Small Business Liberation Act, legislation that would exempt small businesses from the broad, global tariffs imposed as a result of the national emergency declared on April 2 by President Trump. On May 21, Republicans blocked his legislation on the Senate floor.
