NAM Members Get a Bicameral, Bipartisan Look at Tax Reform & Ex-Im Bank
Nearly 200 NAM members attended a February 15 Tax and Budget Policy Committee meeting, and heard different perspectives on tax reform from speakers representing both parties and both sides of Capitol Hill. The speakers of the House Ways and Means Tax Policy Subcommittee Chairman, Peter Roskam (R-IL); Ji Prichard, Democratic tax counsel for the Ways and Means Committee; Brendan Dunn, policy adviser and counsel for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY); and Anna Taylor, tax counsel for Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) all discussed their perspective on the outlook for comprehensive business tax reform. They all agreed with the NAM that the current tax code is broken and uncompetitive, and we have a unique opportunity right now to fix the system. While their ideas on how to reform the tax code vary, momentum is building for tax reform that includes the NAM’s top goals of a competitive corporate rate of 20 to 25%, permanent lower rates for “pass-through” manufacturers, a robust capital cost-recovery system, a strengthened research and development incentive, and a modern territorial tax system. The NAM believes that these priorities are an essential foundation for any tax reform that will make the United States the best place in the world to manufacture and attract foreign direct investment.
Trump Says Tax Overhaul Plan Could Come Soon
Bloomberg News (2/15, Townsend, Pettypiece) reports President Donald Trump told executives at major retail chains “that he would swiftly submit a tax overhaul plan to stimulate the economy.” During a Wednesday meeting with industry executives, Trump called rewriting the tax code “one of the best opportunities to really impact our economy.” The president said he would be releasing a proposal in the “not so distant future.”
Bloomberg Analysis: Ex-Im Bank Needs Support From Congressional Republicans
A Bloomberg Business (2/14, Mayeda) “QuickTake” piece profiles the US Export-Import Bank and quotes commerce secretary nominee Wilbur Ross, saying there “could be justifications for keeping the Export-Import Bank going.” But the article adds that Ross will “have to convince some congressional Republicans, including Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, who’s called the bank’s practices ‘crony capitalism.’” The Ex-Im Bank, which had its last fully operational fiscal year in 2014, “backed $27.5 billion in exports – somewhat less than 2% of the U.S. total,” and it “supported 164,000 American jobs that year.”
Government update provided by the National Association of Manufacturers