While the Congressional clash over healthcare is generating plenty of headlines, the American International Automobile Dealers Association applauded this week’s actions by the so-called “Big Six” — a group of lawmakers and administration officials working together to establish a road map for tax reform — who have officially abandoned a potential border adjustment tax (BAT).

House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn jointly released a statement of principles reaffirming their commitment to passing substantive tax reform for all Americans while finally rejecting the border adjustment tax (BAT) proposal that would have added a 20 percent tax on all goods and services imported into the United States.

“The framework released today by Congress and the Trump administration places the tax reform train squarely back on its tracks,” AIADA president Cody Lusk said. “The border adjustment tax would have driven up costs on everyday goods and put Americans out of work.

“Now that it’s off the table, and the business community is no longer divided by this issue, we can get back to work on supporting this important legislation,” Lusk continued.

AIADA, whose members employ 577,000 Americans and accounted for 59 percent of all U.S. retail vehicle sales last year, insisted that the association would have been uniquely impact by a BAT. Because no vehicles are made with 100 percent American-made parts, the BAT would have added an average of $2,000 to the cost of all new vehicles sold in the United States, regardless of their origin.

The association emphasized the decision by the White House and Congress to listen to the concerns of consumer and business groups — including AIADA — and scrap the BAT allows dealers to throw their support behind a tax reform plan that “promotes economic growth, rewards entrepreneurship, and creates a level playing field for all Americans.”

A 2017 study by the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) estimates that U.S. light vehicle sales would immediately fall by 5.6 percent following implementation of a border adjustment tax, resulting in a $34.6 billion overall cost to U.S. consumers.

For more information on how a border adjustment tax would have impacted dealers, and how they have spent much of this year battling it, visit www.aiada.org/bat.