Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Introducing Legislation Requiring Retailers To Display Price Increases Resulting From Donald Trump’s Tariffs

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor to introduce legislation, alongside Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD), requiring retailers to display the precise amount that tariffs are increasing the prices of their products. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Donald Trump’s trade war is a gut punch to the American people. It is the biggest tax hike on families in half a century.

If Donald Trump is going to tax the American people, they have a right to know precisely how much.

So today, I am introducing legislation with Representative Raskin requiring retailers to show consumers precisely how much tariffs are increasing the prices of their products. It’s no different than when your utility bill shows fees or a receipt shows if a service charge is included or not.

Specifically, the legislation that Representative Raskin has introduced in the House, and which I'm introducing in the Senate, requires large retailers to display in a “clear and conspicuous” way the amount that tariffs contribute to a good’s final price tag.

Our bill is about transparency. It is about being straight with consumers. It is about informing the consumers how Donald Trump’s tariffs will impact the family budget. And retailers should like it, because these increases in prices are not their fault. It's Trump's fault, with his tariffs. So, let the public know. That's a secondary benefit that will make the public even more angry, and they may call their Republican Senators and Congressmembers and say to join the Democrats and pass some of our legislation that would repeal some of these tariffs.

The White House growls that companies with the audacity to be honest with consumers about the cost of tariffs are being “hostile” and “political.” But this is not hostile or political at all, it’s simply being honest with consumers. It's clarity. It's transparency. It’s a smart policy, so of course the White House opposes it, because they don't want people to know how much these tariffs are damaging them.

It's estimated if the present tariffs go into effect, the average family will pay $4,000 more. We want to let them know how much the price has increased for food, for housing, for gasoline, for groceries, for prescription drugs.

Last week, for instance, Ford announced they are increasing the price of at least three models by as much as $2,000, in part because of Donald Trump’s tariffs. Under our bill, that $2,000 price hike should be spelled out to consumers as, in reality, what it is: a tariff tax.

Americans deserve to know who is picking their pockets. Our bill will make clear to the American people that Donald Trump’s tariffs are a painful tax eating away at their hard-earned money. It will make clear to the American people that Donald Trump's promise to lower costs starting on day one is a mirage and a cruel fiction, all for a chaotic tariff policy that is sending our economy into a tailspin.

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