EXECUTIVES SAY TARIFFS WILL BOOST PRICES

New duties by Washington target consumer goods

United States companies, from toymakers to fireworks dealers, are pleading to exempt certain items from the proposed new tariffs on Chinese imports, while officials are trying to ensure that alternative sources of supplies exist outside China.

That is what is taking place at the US International Trade Commission in Washington, where at least 300 businesses and industrial groups have converged to testify in seven days of hearings since June 17 on the planned 25 percent duties to be levied on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese goods.