Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin pronounced House Speaker Paul Ryan’s proposal for a border-adjusted tax dead during closed-door conversations with Democrats on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, according to two members of the panel.
The Treasury secretary also told the conservative Republican members of the House Freedom Caucus earlier this week that he and Trump are inclined to oppose the border-adjusted tax, according to two people familiar with the conversation who asked not to be identified because the meeting was private.
Mnuchin’s private comments are a serious blow to the border-adjusted tax proposal, which is a centerpiece of the tax blueprint backed by Brady and House Speaker Paul Ryan. Border adjustments face opposition from within the ranks of the GOP, and would need White House support if there were any chance for it to be included in a tax bill.
Ryan said Wednesday he agrees that immediately imposing the border-adjusted tax in its full form would be “too disruptive,” and it needs to be changed to assuage widespread opposition among retailers and other industries. And he noted that Republican leaders are discussing whether it’s possible to move forward without the controversial proposal.
Full story and video: https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-05-24/mnuchin-tells-democrats-no-go-on-border-tax-in-private-meeting