Trump Administration Sides with Freedom Caucus to Oppose Paul Ryan’s Border Tax

Although the Trump administration and the House Freedom Caucus have been at odds this year, both factions are coming together against a new border tax. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin met with the Freedom Caucus on Tuesday to give words of encouragement to the hardline conservative legislators.

Mnunchin allegedly told members of the Freedom Caucus that the Trump administration is unwavering in its opposition to a border adjustment tax, according to sources obtained for an Axios report. The border adjustment tax is currently being floated by House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI). On this issue, President Trump is apparently behind the Freedom Caucus 100 percent in opposition.

“Secretary Mnuchin gave great insight into the thinking of the administration on tax reform,” Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) said to Axios. Meadows is the current chairman of the Freedom Caucus. “We are well served by his leadership. It became apparent that there is a growing consensus in the administration that we must act soon to advance tax reform and BAT [the border adjustment tax] is seen as a major impediment.”

Analysts are already panning Ryan’s latest tax hike scheme. The Retail Industry Leaders Association, one of America’s biggest retail trade associations, released a report this week sharply criticizing the proposed border adjustment tax as bad for consumers.

“Looking at the typical expenditure of a consumer unit or household in the United States each year, a 2.1 percent increase in consumer prices is equivalent to an increase in costs to consumers of $1,218 on average, based on extrapolated 2017 consumer expenditure levels,” the report says.

Earlier this year, President Trump shocked and dismayed many of his supporters after he denigrated the Freedom Caucus for refusing to support the original version of the American Health Care Act (AHCA). This worried conservatives that the Trump administration’s agenda and Ryan’s agenda would be one-in-the-same moving forward; however, that looks to be changing as Trump begins to fully comprehend Ryan’s incompetent brand of leadership.