US restaurants seek $455bn of federal aid due to coronavirus hit

A United States restaurant trade group on Wednesday asked the White House and Congressional leaders for a $455bn aid package, saying that the industry could shed nearly half of its 15.6 million jobs and at least a quarter of its annual sales because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The group, the Washington, DC-based National Restaurant Association, said restaurants could take a $225bn sales hit in the next three months, a quarter of their projected total sales of $899bn.

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As food-service establishments are forced to close or shift operations to delivery, pickup, and drive-through only, the industry could lose as many as seven million jobs, the group said.

The broader economic impact could be a loss of $675bn, with every dollar spent in a restaurant generating an additional $2 elsewhere in the national economy, the group said in its letter to US President Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The closures and drastic changes were put in place to help slow the spread of the respiratory illness that has now infected more than 6,400 nationally and killed more than 100 Americans.

The letter came a day after executives from some of the world’s biggest fast-food chains, including McDonald’s Corp, Restaurant Brands International Inc, and Yum! Brands Inc, met with Trump and other officials.

The association’s request includes the creation of a $145bn Restaurant and Foodservice Industry Recovery Fund to provide immediate liquidity to operators, $100bn of federally-backed business interruption insurance, and $135m of disaster unemployment assistance.

“As an industry that is based on welcoming everyone through our doors, we are uniquely affected by mandates that keep us from serving our customers,” the letter said. “Without aggressive and immediate action from the federal government, many restaurants that are a staple of local communities will simply never resume service.”

The letter also asks for $45bn of loans, $35bn for federal community block grants for disaster help, and tax relief.