During my county visits throughout the last year with Iowans, one issue comes up consistently at every meeting: Jobs. Many Iowans are concerned about what’s known as outsourcing, whereby American companies send jobs overseas as a cost-savings measure to become more competitive.
Just as the president says he wants to build an economy that has enough good-paying jobs for every American who wants one, I agree policymakers in Washington must work together to grow the economy and create jobs right here in the United States.
And as chairman of the tax-writing panel in the U.S. Senate, I take that responsibility seriously. That’s why I am pursuing changes to the federal tax code which reward companies who set up shop and hire in America.
Regrettably bipartisan efforts to jumpstart the U.S. manufacturing sector have stalled due to a politically motivated ploy that ultimately could cost American jobs.
My bipartisan proposal won overwhelming support in the Senate Finance Committee passing 19-2 last October. Called the Jumpstart Our Business Strength (JOBS) Act, my proposal would bring the United States into compliance with international trade laws and breathe life into struggling domestic manufacturers and other job-creating businesses in America.
The timing is urgent. As of March 1, a wide-range of American-made products became subject to a tariff that could rise to as much as four billion dollars a year. Two years ago, the World Trade Organization ruled a tax break for U.S. exporters was an illegal trade subsidy. Unless Congress repeals what’s called the Foreign Sales Corporation-Extraterritorial Income tax regime, a long list of U.S. products bound for Europe would face a 17 percent export tax by this time next year. That would make it very hard for U.S. exporters impacted by the rising tariff to compete for business across the Atlantic. And that would mean lost jobs here in America.
By not allowing my bill to come up for a vote, some senators are putting American jobs at risk. And that’s precisely the issue for which the president’s critics are so eager to assign blame. Instead of taking responsibility for addressing the struggling labor market, these same critics are ignoring an opportunity to do something about job creation.
My JOBS bill would replace the FSC-ETI tax system with a tax cut on manufacturing income earned from products made in the United States. We’ve seen three million manufacturing jobs lost since July 2000. The JOBS bill would provide $75 billion of tax relief to promote hiring in U.S.-based manufacturing.
Moreover, it would reform international tax rules that seriously undermine America’s ability to compete in the global marketplace. For example, the bill cleans up problems that cause foreign earnings to be double-taxed by both the United States and the foreign country where the profits are earned.
We live in a free market society driven by consumer spending. We also live in a society where employers struggle to shoulder double-digit increases in health care costs, comply with burdensome regulatory requirements, survive costly litigation in the courts, and stay competitive enough to keep good-paying jobs here in America.
Despite the hardship confronting domestic manufacturers, the United States economy continues to flex its resiliency. We’re currently enjoying an increase in productivity, the highest-ever level of home ownership and a 5.6 percent unemployment rate that’s below the average unemployment rate for the last three decades. Nonetheless, more needs to be done.
From my leadership position in the U.S. Senate, I’m working to build momentum through tax and trade policies that will get jobless Americans back to work and earning a paycheck.