G-20 will back a global minimum corporate tax, a win for Biden, U.S. officials say
World leaders are expected on Saturday to endorse plans for a global minimum tax on corporations during the first day of the G-20 summit, senior Biden administration officials said.
The policy is intended to prevent businesses from skipping from country to country in search of lower tax rates, an approach that U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has called a “race to the bottom.”
“It’s a game changer for American workers, taxpayers and businesses,” said one of the senior officials, who requested anonymity to speak before the announcement. “In our judgment, this is more than just a tax deal. It’s a reshaping of the rules of the global economy.”
The deal will buoy President Biden, who has been pushing for such an agreement since taking office. It’s unclear if he’ll be able to push the policy through a sharply divided Congress. Republicans are opposed to any tax increases, and some moderate Democrats are wary of such measures.
Biden will have a busy first day at the summit, which brings together world leaders to discuss economic and other issues. The president will meet with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, with whom Biden held a pre-summit sidebar Friday, to discuss how to proceed with negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.
Although President Obama reached an international deal to prevent Tehran from building a nuclear bomb, President Trump withdrew from the pact.
Biden campaigned on reentering the agreement, and talks are scheduled to begin in November in Vienna.
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