Chamber of Commerce asks Trump administration for tariff exclusions to "stave off a recession"

As Small Business Month kicks off, the Chamber of Commerce is speaking out against the Trump administration's trade policy, saying recently imposed tariffs could do serious damage to America's Main Street.

In a letter sent to the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday, Suzanne Clark, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, asks for an "automatic exclusion" from new tariffs for U.S. small businesses that import goods from abroad. Small businesses do not have the margin or capital reserves to survive an increase in tariffs, Clark wrote in the letter.

"The Chamber requests the administration take immediate action to save America's small businesses and stave off a recession," she wrote.