Trump touts policies; economists agree
Tax cuts, deregulation making U.S. attractive
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump highlighted his tax cuts and deregulatory efforts with a salesman’s pitch to an elite economic forum in Switzerland on Friday.
“We are competitive once again,” Trump told an assemblage of international business executives, financiers and academics.
While discounting some of the president’s more grandiose claims, many economists agree that he has generally made the U.S. more welcoming for businesses. Last month, Trump signed a tax package that cut the corporate income tax to 21 percent from 35 percent. The Republican Congress has also passed laws to overturn at least 15 rules put in place by the Obama administration, and the administration has put dozens of other regulations on hold.
Those steps should encourage more overseas businesses to move to the U.S. or expand existing operations, economists said.
Before Trump, “the high marginal tax rate and some of the regulation on specific industries did mean the U.S. was not always the first choice,” said Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Nicholas Veron, a fellow at Bruegel, a think tank in Brussels, Belgium, said that among European businesses, “there is some agreement that the tax plan will make it more attractive to invest in the U.S.”
Nancy Mclernon, CEO of the Organization for International Investment, praised Trump for meeting with global CEOS at Davos and for what she said was his recognition of the benefits of foreign investment.
“I do think tax reform will spur foreign direct investment in the United States,” Mclernon said. “We think it will make the U.S. more competitive.”
Still, Mclernon said she hoped Trump would adopt a more welcoming approach to international trade, which helps spur foreign investment.
“Global companies want to be in countries that are globally connected,” she said.