US President promises tax incentives for job creation
WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama promised yesterday new tax incentives for companies that create jobs in the United States — and punishment for those who export them overseas. In his weekly radio and Internet address, the president said that in the next few weeks, he will “put forward new tax proposals that reward companies that choose to do the right thing by bringing jobs home and investing in America — and eliminate tax breaks for companies that move jobs overseas.” He did not elaborate anything
further. The comments came after Obama held a White House summit with business leaders this week to discuss ways of bringing outsourced American jobs back home while growing the US economy. The business figures at the event included senior executives from Ford, Dupont, Otis Elevator Company, Intel, Siemens USA and Rolls Royce North America. The president also said he had pledged these business leaders his firm support if they continue on the path of job creation. “I’ll make sure you’ve got a government that does everything in its power to help you succeed,” he said. The president also showcased his plan to merge six US trade and commerce agencies in an effort to cut red tape for businesses and end government overlap. “These changes will make it easier for small business owners to get the loans and support they need to sell their products around the
world,” Obama said. Meanwhile, Obama sought to strike an implicit contrast with his most likely Republican election foe Mitt Romney on Wednesday, hosting a forum on bringing back American jobs to be outsourced overseas. Obama gathered consulting professionals and company chief executives at the White House hours after Romney won the New Hampshire primary, despite a blizzard of attacks on Romney’s professed record as a job creator while working as a venture capitalist. Unemployment and the direction of the economy as it struggles back after the worst recession since the 1930s Great Depression are shaping up as the key issues of November’s election in which embattled Obama will seek a second term.
— Reuters