Tax policy: With a fair global playing field, we’re unstoppable
More than a year after COVID-19 crippled our country and drove us into a steep recession, the United States is in the process of getting back on its feet.
The green shoots are evident in the rise in our country’s gross domestic product, orders for durable goods, and a rebound in consumer confidence and personal spending. The best indicator of all: The unemployment rate declined to 5.2 percent in August versus a record high of 14.8 percent in April 2020.
While our country has made great progress, we’re still in recovery mode. To continue to advance our recovery as quickly as possible, we must remain globally competitive. Raising the corporate tax rate, as is being proposed by the Biden administration and some in Congress, would have a lasting negative impact on our ability to compete and win on a global playing field and would hamper job growth on our shores.
Here’s why. Currently from a tax perspective, the United States stands near the middle of the pack of the 30 largest economies – the OECD countries. While the U.S. is not the most tax competitive, we’re also not the least competitive. At this level, our businesses can effectively compete outside the headwind of tax policy.
However, if our tax policy becomes a cost impediment and drops the United States toward the bottom of the list of OECD countries, it will effectively tie a hand behind our back when we try to compete and win in the global marketplace. Simply, our tax policy could become a hurdle that prevents us from winning business and supporting jobs back home.
If we get tax policy right by keeping corporate tax rates at current levels -- and engage on trading rules to ensure they’re fair, equitable and reflect what we care about as a country -- the United States is unstoppable. With access to global markets and a fair playing field, we will continue to experience a job-centric economic recovery.
Lance M. Fritz
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Union Pacific Corporation
October 6, 2021