Biden Pitches Corporate Tax Changes to Boost U.S. Jobs
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden rolled out corporate tax proposals Wednesday aimed at protecting U.S. workers by encouraging companies to invest in jobs domestically and punishing multinationals for moving jobs overseas.
Biden’s proposals include:
A 10% surtax on profits of U.S. companies on products made overseas and then sold in the United States. Combined with Biden’s proposed 28% corporate tax rate, the plan means companies would pay a 30.8% tax rate on any such profits, Biden’s campaign said.
A 10% “Made in America” tax credit meant to spur job creation. The credit would be available to companies that invest in reopening or retooling U.S. facilities or bring back manufacturing or service jobs from foreign countries.
Closing what the Biden campaign calls “three major offshoring loopholes” in the 2017 Republican tax law that allow companies to shield profits from U.S. taxes.
Biden also said he would sign a series of executive actions in his first week as president to strengthen the federal government’s “Buy American” rules and support American supply chains.
Why it matters: The announcements mark Biden’s latest effort to challenge Trump on the issue of the economy and appeal to working-class voters in battleground Midwestern states including Michigan, where he held his event Wednesday. Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at Northern Trust and a former official at the Chicago Federal Reserve, told Bloomberg News that, since the tax changes would require congressional action, they would depend on Democrats winning a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate in November’s elections.
