US Chamber urges Trump to scrap tariffs for small firms to avert recession

The US Chamber of Commerce has urged the Trump administration to quickly exempt small businesses from import tariffs, warning inaction could spark a recession and cause “irreparable harm” to small firms.

Chamber CEO Suzanne Clark urged top administration officials to exempt all small business importers and goods not available domestically from tariffs, Caliber.Az reports, citing US media.

The group also pressed for a fast-track system allowing companies to request exclusions where tariffs could threaten jobs.

“We are deeply concerned that even if it only takes weeks or months to reach agreements, many small businesses will suffer irreparable harm,” Clark wrote in her appeal to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

“The Chamber requests the administration take immediate actions to save America’s small businesses and stave off a recession,” she added.

Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street programme on May 30, Clark said the Chamber had been “inundated” by requests for help.

“Small business owners are afraid for the very survival of their business,” she said.

Despite mounting pressure, the Trump administration appears unmoved. At a press briefing, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller indicated that the administration would not be granting near-term tariff relief.

“The relief for small businesses is going to come in the form of the largest tax cut in American history,” he said, referencing Republican plans to pass a sweeping tax reform bill this year.

Miller also defended the administration’s protectionist stance. “President Trump has made clear that companies that invest in the US will face no liability from tariffs,” he said.

Pressed further, he added: “It’s a yes on tax relief for small businesses. And again, you only pay the tariff for products that are made outside the United States.”

Clark explained that the Chamber had opted not to challenge the tariffs in court — a route it had taken repeatedly against the Biden administration — because legal action would take too long.

“We do worry about government overreach and micromanagement,” she said. “But in this case, the courts take a long time. And what small business needs, what all business needs, is more immediate relief.”

By Aghakazim Guliyev