Thanks in large part to Sen. Ted Cruz’s leadership, the Texas small business community is thriving. In fact, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, they now make up about 99% of businesses in the state of Texas.
Cruz, a Republican from Texas and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, must therefore vigorously oppose the Country of Origin Labeling Online Act, a bill that would use excessive bureaucracy to undermine the growth of small businesses in our state. Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, introduced the COOL Act, which bootstraps small businesses with needless and redundant work in the process of forcing all online sellers to disclose the country of origin of every component of their products.
Determining the country of origin of certain products can also be difficult, particularly if they contain components from different countries. For example, soaps may have oils of diverse origins, or clothing may contain buttons that are imported from a different nation than the fabric. This complexity will now need to be navigated by small enterprises, and if mistakes are made, there is a greater chance of consumer confusion or resentment.
It would also be difficult because tiny companies usually don’t have as many employees or administrative support resources. Adding the duty of making sure country-of-origin labeling laws are followed could put an additional burden on their already limited resources. Since small firms frequently compete with larger shops that have greater resources to respond to regulatory changes, spreading them even thinner puts them at a competitive disadvantage. We cannot expect small business owners to handle any additional financial hardship, particularly in the current political environment when inflation has caused an economic roller coaster.
Indeed, it is purported that the COOL Online Act exempts certain “small” online vendors; however, this exemption is limited to merchants who earn less than $20,000 per year. For sellers who rely on their small enterprises as their primary source of income, this is just not feasible. These carve-outs don’t address the bigger problem and will only benefit a very small portion of internet retailers.
I am aware that Sen. Cruz feels that it is best to keep the government out of the free market economy. Because of this, I am confident that when I urge him to support small companies and oppose the Country of Origin Labeling Online Act, I am speaking for Texas’ virtual Main Street. It’s an egregious instance of needless government meddling in the economy that could have detrimental effects on our small company community.
