Toyota, Target, Best Buy among giants mounting campaign against import tax

Washington

DAYS before a group of Republican lawmakers were due to discuss their party's controversial proposal to tax all imports, Toyota Motor Corp sent an urgent message to its US dealers - tell the politicians the tax would seriously hurt car buyers.

Some of Toyota's 1,500 dealers heeded the call and contacted members of the House of Representatives' tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, urging them to rethink their proposal, according to people familiar with the effort. Imposing a 20 per cent tax on imports would force consumers to pay potentially thousands of dollars more for vehicles, they warned.