U.S. Chamber of Commerce requests Trump’s tariff exclusions for small businesses

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has sent a letter to the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to give small business importers tariff exclusions for products that cannot be produced in the United States or are not readily available, the letter showed Thursday.

Suzanne Clark, the president of the business lobby, sent the letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Wednesday, calling for the government to take “immediate” action “to save America’s small businesses and stave off a recession.”

It requested that the administration establish a process that provides an automatic exclusion from new tariffs for any small business importer and gives automatic exclusions for all products that cannot be produced or are not easily available in the U.S.

It also requested the establishment of a process to expeditiously obtain exclusions in situations where companies can demonstrate that tariffs impose significant risks to U.S. employment.

“The chamber supports many of the president’s policy goals, including eliminating unfair trade and non-trade barriers, and driving American investment. At the same time, we have heard from a historic number of small businesses who have made it clear: they need immediate relief from tariffs,” Clark was quoted as saying in a release.

“As each day goes by, small businesses are increasingly endangered by higher costs and interrupted supply chains that will cause irreparable harm.”

Clark noted that the chamber applauds the administration’s efforts to negotiate new trade deals that expand market access for U.S. companies and benefit American workers, but she stressed that “these deals take time, and many businesses simply can’t afford to wait while negotiations proceed.”