Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) and Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen (CO-07) reintroduced the Pink Tariffs Study Act, which would require the U.S. Department of Treasury to conduct a study on potential gender bias and regressivity within the U.S. tariff system and report the findings to Congress.  The reintroduction of this legislation follows reports that the U.S. tariff schedule places higher import taxes on women than men for the same or similar products, including razors and clothes.

“While often hidden from public view, tariffs have a significant impact on the prices Americans pay in stores every day.  Women disproportionately pay, on average, three percent more in tariffs than men, but the difference is sometimes even greater,” said Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher.  “Now, as President Trump has imposed tariffs and started a trade war with our trading partners, it is even more important that we understand how higher tariffs will raise costs for everyone, and women in particular.  I am glad to reintroduce this legislation with Congresswoman Pettersen to help make sure we understand the impacts of tariffs and have the tools to ensure a fairer tax system.”

“Women continue to pay more than men when it comes to everyday needs like clothes, razors, and even personal hygiene products,” said Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen. “These costs can add up fast – especially for working moms and families – and Trump’s reckless trade war threatens to drive these prices up even more and hurt regular people who are already struggling to make ends meet. This legislation takes an important step forward in addressing gender inequalities in our tariff system and making sure women don’t unfairly face higher prices than men. I’m thankful for the partnership of Congresswoman Fletcher and will keep working to lower costs and end ‘pink tariffs.’”

“The New Dem Trade Task Force is proud to endorse the Pink Tariffs Study Act at a critical moment in the history of American trade policy,” said New Democrat Coalition Trade and Tariff Task Force Chair Don Beyer.  “At a moment when the nation reckons with the sweeping impacts of President Trump’s tariffs on consumers and businesses, it is all the more important to understand how these taxes disproportionately impact women.  We are grateful to our New Dem colleagues Representatives Fletcher and Pettersen for leading this effort, and for endeavoring to build a more equitable tax system on behalf of all Americans.”

“As Representatives Fletcher and Pettersen introduce the Pink Tariffs Study Act today, they are rightly going beyond pure – and fully justified – opposition to Mr. Trump’s tariff increases. By helping alert policymakers to unequal tariff taxation of American women, and tariff rates biased against lower-income families, their bill will help us design a better and fairer system,” said Ed Gresser, Vice President and Director for Trade and Global Markets at the Progressive Policy Institute.

“Economists have long known that tariffs are a poor form of taxation. As taxation of purchases of goods, they tax hourly-wage families more than wealthy households, and impose greater cost burdens on goods-using industries like retail, manufacturing, farming, restaurants, and homebuilding than on services- and investment-heavy industries,” continued Gresser.  “Even within this context, the U.S. tariff system is far more regressive than those of most of our trading partners – for example, by taxing polyester clothes more heavily than silks, and cheap stainless steel silverware more than sterling silver. And it appears to be unique in the world in taxing women’s clothes more heavily than directly analogous men’s clothes. This gender bias in the two clothing chapters likely costs women at least $2.5 billion per year.

“The Pink Tariffs Study Act directs the Treasury Department to conduct a formal study of the U.S. tariff system for gender bias and regressivity – something neither the Treasury Department nor other trade agencies with tariff powers, such as Customs and Border Protection or the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, have ever done,” concluded Gresser.  “This would give Congress the data and information it will need as it reasserts its Constitutional authority over tariff policy and begins to undo the harms Mr. Trump’s policies are causing. We are proud to applaud and endorse their work.”

The tariff system generates about $100 billion annually in U.S. federal tax revenue.  Apart from a few academic studies in recent years, the U.S. tariff system has received little scrutiny of its role as a form of taxation.  President Trump, however, has indiscriminately imposed tariffs on imported goods, which are expected to exacerbate existing gender inequalities. 

Research has also shown that tariff rates on U.S. consumer goods are systematically regressive, affecting underserved families the hardest, with tariffs higher on cheaper material, mass-market goods than on higher-end or luxury items.  The consequence is that as a form of taxation, tariffs fall most heavily on women and underserved communities.

To understand the compounding effects of President Trump’s tariffs, an analysis of the gender bias within the U.S. tariff system is needed.  The Pink Tariffs Study Act would require the U.S. Treasury to conduct a study on which types of products carry the highest tariffs, which segments of the population bear most of the system’s cost, and whether an important element of the U.S. tax code contains gender discrimination. 

The New Democrat Coalition Trade and Tariffs Task Force, the Democratic Women's Caucus, and the Progressive Policy Institute have endorsed the Pink Tariffs Study Act.

To view the full text of the bill, click here.