That’s what Zhou Dewen, Zhejiang Private Investment Enterprise Association Director, a business lobbying group in the People’s Republic of China has said. He, like business representatives anywhere—including here in the US—is right to be concerned. That concern is compounded by President Donald Trump’s tax proposal.
Now, Chinese officials and executives worry that the tax proposal Mr Trump announced last week will set back China’s global competitiveness and spur companies to invest in America instead of China.
Which is one of the points of Trump’s proposal that, among other things, seeks to drastically lower our usurious business tax rates.
Trump’s proposal also is a much more intelligent, much more moral, response to American companies moving overseas than the iron curtain that ex-President Barack Obama (D) and his Treasury Secretary Jack Lew (D) tried to erect with their punishing (in every sense) taxes that they tried to impose on companies in order to trap them here. If we’ve got one of the lowest tax rates going, it no longer would make business sense to relocate out of the US. And, such a decision would be that of the companies’ owners; it would not be driven by Government watchdogs.
Speaking of relocating businesses for tax-based reasons,
Chinese windshield maker Fuyao Glass opened a $600 million factory last October near Dayton, Ohio, and plans other facilities in Illinois and Michigan, creating 4,500 jobs. CEO Cao Dewang caused a stir in December when he told a reporter the decision was driven by tax differences: “Overall taxation for manufacturers in China is 35% higher than that in the US.”
The PRC government is getting involved, too.
In anticipation of the US tax move, the State Council, China’s cabinet, said earlier this month the government will reduce corporate taxes by over $55 billion to “improve business conditions.” The Communist Party’s newspaper, People’s Daily, warned on Friday that the new US plan could trigger a “tax war” if countries start competing to offer the lowest rates.
Such a race to the lowest tax rates would benefit the folks of all nations involved. Pop Quiz: which type of economy will prosper the most from such a contest?
“We pay a lot to feed the civil servants.” Don’t we all.