Letter to President Trump & Congressional Leaders on the Once-in-a-Generation Opportunity on Tax Reform

Dear Mr. President and Congressional Leaders:

There is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform the U.S. tax system during the 115th Congress. Business Roundtable CEOs are confident that the Administration and Congressional leaders can reach agreement on a common tax reform plan and enact comprehensive tax reform this Congress. We thank you for holding listening sessions and hearings on the importance of tax reform.

Now is the time to shift from listening to action. We urge you to undertake this effort with the highest priority and move forward with pro-growth legislation that will put America on a path of accelerated economic growth with higher wages and greater employment opportunities for all Americans. 

The nation’s tax system is in urgent need of reform to boost economic growth and America’s living standards. It has been over 30 years since Congress last undertook tax reform. Since that time, the world’s economies have become significantly more competitive and the U.S. tax system has become an anti-competitive drag on the U.S. economy.

Business Roundtable recently surveyed its membership and found that a significant majority of CEOs believe that tax reform is the single most effective action that Congress can take to accelerate economic growth over the next year. In the survey, 76 percent of the CEOs said they would increase hiring if the U.S. tax system is reformed, while 82 percent said they would increase capital spending. Conversely, the failure to act on tax reform would have adverse economic consequences. Roughly 90 percent of CEOs participating in the survey said that delaying tax reform for an extended period will lead to lower rates of hiring, growth, and investment.

We support a fiscally responsible, modernized tax code that includes competitive business tax rates and a modern international tax system that doesn’t leave trillions of investment dollars trapped overseas. Tax reform that incorporates these key priorities is a necessity.

As the leaders of America’s largest businesses, we urge Congress and the Administration to work together to enact permanent, pro-growth tax reform this year in a fair and fiscally responsible manner. We know how challenging it is to achieve tax reform meeting these objectives, and we have witnessed the obstacles to past tax reform efforts for over a decade. For this reason, we provide you our commitment to put all our corporate credits and special deductions on the table. We stand ready to work with you to achieve this goal. We are confident that any obstacles can be overcome for the benefit of the U.S. economy.

Sincerely,

Nicholas K. Akins

American Electric Power

Ajay Banga

MasterCard

Greg Brown

Motorola Solutions

Wes Bush

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Kenneth I. Chenault

American Express Company

Mark J. Costa

Eastman Chemical Company

James Dimon

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

John A. Hayes

Ball Corporation

Marillyn A. Hewson

Lockheed Martin Corporation

Jacqueline Hinman

CH2M

Jeffrey R. Immelt

GE

Tom Linebarger

Cummins Inc.

Andrew N. Liveris

The Dow Chemical Company

Kevin A. Lobo

Stryker Corporation

Doug McMillon

Walmart

Larry J. Merlo

CVS Health

Brian T. Moynihan

Bank of America Corporation

Dennis A. Muilenburg

The Boeing Company

Virginia M. Rometty

IBM Corporation

Randall L. Stephenson

AT&T Inc.

Julie Sweet

Accenture

Mark A. Weinberger

EY