Washington - Business Roundtable today released BRT TV Season One, Episode Three: U.S. Competitiveness making the case for maintaining a competitive tax rate for America’s job creators.
Season One, Episode Three: U.S. Competitiveness is available at brt.org/tv/competitiveness and includes extended interviews with: Greg Hayes, Chairman and CEO, Raytheon Technologies Corporation and Chair, Business Roundtable Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee; Lance Fritz, Chairman, President and CEO, Union Pacific Railroad and Chair, Business Roundtable Trade and International Committee; Sonia Syngal, CEO, Gap Inc.; and Jim Fitterling, Chairman and CEO, Dow. Hear firsthand from America’s job creators why tax increases on U.S. businesses would undermine the competitiveness of the U.S. economy, businesses and workers.
On the consequences of uncompetitive U.S. tax policy:
“The fact is if we have an uncompetitive tax system here in the U.S., it will discourage investment, it will discourage investment in innovation, it will discourage investment in capital,” said Hayes. “I would just ask people to think about—this is not about today. This is about the future of the country. How are we going to keep the U.S. at the forefront of both commercial aerospace, and keep the world safe? And we need, again, to have a competitive tax system that allows us to invest.”
On what U.S. competitiveness means for everyday Americans:
“When we talk about tax policy and trade policy, it's not about trying to give business a pass. It's not about trying to make it so businesses don't pay their fair share. It's about trying to make sure that U.S. business can continue to compete and win around the world, and support the jobs that we support today,” said Fritz. “It’s fundamentally about making sure that communities in America and Americans have a great opportunity to do what they want to do, the life that they want to live, own the things that they want to own. All of that is ultimately built on the ability for U.S. businesses to compete globally.”
On investments made possible by competitive U.S. tax policy:
“We made a sizable investment in Longview, Texas, where we are opening a brand-new distribution center,” said Syngal. “We’ll employ up to 1,000 employees with new jobs brought to that community. And that capability will allow us to service our customers with our online business in new and better ways. These kinds of investments are only possible if we remain competitive on the tax rate.”
On working with Congress:
“When we see moves that really put us in an uncompetitive position, we're quick to raise our hand because we know how that will impact our own business. But we also know how it's going to impact our customers’ business and the markets that they serve,” said Fitterling. “What we [would] like is for the legislators, Congress, to sit with us and understand and work with us to put through some well-thought-out policies that will move us in the right direction. And it will solve the problems they're trying to solve with the economy and the environment at the same time we keep America's advantage.”