WASHINGTON, D.C. – After President Trump issued a Day One executive order that reaffirmed Americans’ sovereignty over our own taxes and rejected the Biden Administration’s global tax surrender to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that put foreign governments in charge, Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) praised the move:
“President Trump has always put America first, which is precisely why he is standing up for Americans against foreign governments who want to tax our workers and businesses unfairly, kill American jobs, and hand China an advantage. I and my fellow Ways and Means Republicans have spent the last two years fighting against President Biden’s unconstitutional surrender of Congress’s tax authority, including traveling directly to meet with the OECD and foreign government officials to warn them that Congress will reject any scheme that undermines our tax sovereignty.
“This executive order smartly rejects the OECD framework and calls on Treasury to investigate any country that violates a tax treaty or creates a tax rule that discriminates against an American company. It also instructs the Treasury Department to prepare retaliatory countermeasures intended to protect our economy. Ways and Means Republicans will be re-introducing the Defending American Jobs and Investment Act so that President Trump has all the tools he needs to enact these countermeasures against any country that unfairly targets American workers and businesses.
“It’s a new day in America where we have a President willing to defend our country on the world stage. The technocrats negotiating this backroom deal in Paris have failed in their efforts to attack the United States, and we must ensure they never make the attempt again.”
Key Background:
April 2024: During a hearing with then-Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Chairman Smith questioned why the Biden Administration was trying to surrender America’s tax revenue and jobs to foreign countries. As he noted, “Congress writes the laws, not bureaucrats negotiating behind closed doors. This deal has no path forward in Congress.”
READ: Chairman Smith Opening Statement – Hearing with Treasury Secretary Yellen
March 2024: Tax Subcommittee Chairman Mike Kelly (PA-16) leads a hearing on OECD negotiations, noting the importance of putting America first.
WATCH: Tax Subcommittee Hearing on OECD Pillar 1: Ensuring the Biden Administration Puts Americans First
September 2023: In a meeting with the OECD as well as officials with the French and German finance ministries, members of the House Ways and Means Committee, led by Chairman Smith, made clear that countries that try to use the OECD global tax deal to steal away American jobs and tax revenues can expect economic consequences in the future.
READ: At OECD, Chairman Smith Warns That Congress Will Reject New Job-Killing Global Tax Surrender
July 2023: During a Ways and Means Tax Subcommittee hearing examining the OECD global tax scheme negotiated by the Biden Administration, Committee Members found the proposal would hurt American companies, kill American jobs, give Chinese Communist Party-sponsored businesses a global economic advantage, and surrender $120 billion in U.S. tax revenue.Rep. Ron Estes (KS-04) also introduced the Unfair Tax Prevention Act to discourage foreign countries from attacking U.S. jobs and tax revenues through the OECD’s Pillar 2 so-called Under Taxed Profit Rule surtax.
READ: Rep. Estes Introduces Legislation to Protect Americans from Unfair Taxes in Global Tax Pact
June 2023: In response to a request by Chairman Smith and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID), the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) issued an analysis finding that the United States stands to lose over $120 billion in tax revenues under the OECD’s global minimum tax as negotiated by the Biden Administration.
READ: JCT: U.S. Stands to Lose Revenue Under OECD Tax Deal
May 2023: Chairman Smith introduced H.R. 3665, the Defending American Jobs and Investment Act, to prevent President Biden’s global tax surrender from killing American jobs, surrendering sovereignty over our tax code, and handing a competitive advantage to the Chinese Communist Party. The bill creates a reciprocal tax applicable to any foreign country that imposes unfair taxes on U.S. businesses and workers under the OECD’s global tax scheme.
READ: Ways and Means Republicans Introduce Bill to Combat Biden’s Global Tax Surrender
March 2023: The Ways and Means Committee held a hearing with then-Treasury Secretary Yellen, in which Chairman Smith noted, “President Biden’s global tax surrender to foreign governments will make it better to be a foreign worker or business than an American one. It’s a tax ‘deal’ only China could love.”The Ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax also held a hearing pushing back on the Biden Administration’s disastrous negotiations on tax with OECD.
READ: “U.S. Is Not a Piggy Bank for Europe’s Socialist Policies”
February 2023: During his first month leading the Committee, Chairman Smith warned the OECD Secretary General that the Biden Administration cannot override Congress’s constitutional tax-writing authority, and demanded he stop colluding with the Biden Administration to enact a global tax deal that will surrender American sovereignty, destroy American jobs, and hand China a global economic competitive advantage,
READ: Chairman Smith: Biden Administration Cannot Override Congress’s Constitutional Tax-Writing Authority
READ: Smith: OECD Must Stop Colluding with Biden Administration to Surrender American Sovereignty