Bob Saquet (left) and Neil Abramson,

ECI Stores in Leominster (right) 

with Congressman Bill Keating.

Robert Saquet attends NRF conference in Washington, DC.

Robert Saquet, owner of the Eggers Furniture Company in Middleboro, recently attended a National Retail Federation conference in Washington.  While there he met with Congressman William Keating to discuss some of the problems faced by retailers and asked for help dealing with the recently enacted tariff taxes that will be passed on to American consumers.

Congressman Keating was told that tariffs are not doing what the president expected. Countries are now retaliating against the U.S. The impact is already clear on both U.S. imports and exports, and the effects will soon trickle down to impact nearly every consumer and the economy at large.

The trade policy also disproportionately affects small businesses. If all the tariffs get enacted, all products are going to be affected. The higher the prices are, then the less people will buy those products. Retail and the overall economy will suffer.

Saquet told Congressman Keating that his store sells American made furniture but he has been getting price increase notices from his sources explaining that many imported component parts are used.  Price increases will be passed on to customers who are ultimately paying the tariff tax.”

Other Issues explained at the  conference included the importance of the retail sector of the economy which employs over 42 million workers.  The sign of a healthy economy is a vibrant retail environment. Other important topics were reforms to credit card processing and correction of errors in the recent tax cuts that eliminated usual deductions on depreciation on renovations.