WASHINGTON — After months on life support, the border adjustment tax looks as if it’s finally dead.
The sharp divisions that make overhauling the tax code a monumental task were on full display on Tuesday as Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration publicly panned the provision at the heart of House Speaker Paul D. Ryan’s tax plan. Its apparent demise sends Republican tax writers back to the drawing board to come up with alternatives as they race to pass legislation before the end of the year.
The rifts raise the likelihood that Republicans will struggle to meet their goal of enacting a sweeping rewrite of the tax code in 2017. It’s just as likely that Mr. Ryan and Representative Kevin Brady, the Republican chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, will need to find alternatives to their proposed border adjustment tax on imports. The idea is the linchpin of a plan produced by House Republicans last year, but it has drawn fierce resistance from retailers, energy companies and small businesses.
