Speaker Ryan admits defeat, giving up on border adjustment tax
By Damian Paletta, The Washington Post.
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) has agreed to jettison one of the most controversial aspects of his tax overhaul plan, clearing the way for the White House to move forward on its plans for sweeping tax cuts later this year.
After months of talks, Ryan and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Tex.) have backed down on their demand that any changes to the tax code include the imposition of a new “border adjustment tax” on imported goods, at least in the short term.
The revelation came in a joint statement that Ryan, Brady, top Senate Republicans and senior White House officials released Thursday as way to update the public about the status of their tax overhaul negotiations.
“While we have debated the pro-growth benefits of border adjustability, we appreciate that there are many unknowns associated with it, and have decided to set this policy aside in order to advance tax reform,” the group said in the joint statement. They added that they hope Congress could begin crafting and voting on the tax changes sometime in the fall.