A2629

An Act requiring the disclosure of tariffs on retail sales receipts and supplementing Title 56 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. As used in this act:

"Consumer" means a natural person living in the State.

"Director" means the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety.

"Retail establishment" means any business establishment, operating at a physical or virtual location, which engages in selling products or services directly to consumers.

"Retail price" means the posted price available to any customer of the retail establishment.

"Retail product" means any merchandise, article, or commodity of any kind or class produced, distributed or offered for retail sale for consumption by individuals other than at the retail establishment, or in the performance of services rendered within the household, and which is consumed or expended in the course of such use.

"Tariff" means any duty or trade-related import tax paid, as required by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, on any incoming raw material, component, or product at the point of entry.

"Wholesale trade firm" means any business establishment which purchases raw materials, components, or products in bulk quantities for the purposes of reselling these goods to retail establishments.

2. a. A retail establishment shall disclose the percentage or dollar amount of the retail price of a retail product that is attributable to tariffs.

b. Disclosure of the tariff portion of the retail price shall be:

(1) visible on the point of sale display tag as required by the "Unit Price Disclosure Act," P.L.1975, c. 242 (C.56:8-21 et seq.);

(2) visible on the online product page;

(3) itemized on the printed receipt provided at the conclusion of the point-of-sale transaction; or

(4) disclosed in a manner deemed appropriate by the director.

c. If raw material inputs or other factors make the precise disclosure of the tariff portion of a product’s retail price impractical, a retail establishment may indicate on the product’s sale display tag, or in a manner to be determined by the director, that the item’s price has been impacted by tariffs.

3. The following shall be exempt from the provisions of this act:

a. Retail establishments generating less than $500,000 in annual revenue.

b. Products of which the tariff-related price impact is less than two percent of the final retail price.

4. a. To ensure accuracy, all retail establishments subject to the provisions of this act shall be subject to periodic audits. Compliance requirements shall be determined by the director.

b. An audit request related to tariff pricing disclosure shall be limited to compliance with the provisions of this act, and shall not be used to provide the sole evidence of violations to any other law or regulation.

c. A violation of this act shall be subject to a fine determined by the director, but shall in no case exceed $500 per violation.

5. The director shall by regulation, provide for the manner in which the tariff portion of a retail price shall be calculated and displayed, establish and modify a list of commodities exempt from the provisions of this act, and provided further that the director, in promulgating tariff-pricing regulations, shall not exempt consumer commodities or retail establishments from the provisions of this act except where compliance would be impractical, unreasonably burdensome, or unnecessary for adequate protection of consumers. The director shall maintain and make public a clearly defined list of specific commodities exempt from the provisions of this act and of all classes of retail commodities and all classes of retail establishments required to be in compliance with this act and any regulations issued pursuant to this act.

6. This act shall take effect 90 days after enactment, except that the director may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.

STATEMENT

The bill requires retail establishments to disclose the portion of a product's retail price attributable to tariffs and trade-related import taxes.

The bill requires retail establishments to disclose the percentage or dollar amount of the final price attributable to tariffs on either the price tag, online product pages, or sales receipt.

Retail establishments with revenues below $500,000 in annual sales and products whose tariff-related pricing impact is negligible are exempt from the bill. Retail establishments subject to the bill are subject to periodic compliance audits and fines for noncompliance. The Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety is required to develop regulations to effectuate the implementation of this bill.