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Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is wooing Wall Street and beyond with sweet talk of lower tax rates.
In a meeting with CEOs of the biggest U.S. companies on Thursday, Trump promised to cut the corporate tax rate to 20%, Bloomberg reports, citing unnamed sources familiar with the comments.
Major players in the U.S. economy, including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Apple chief Tim Cook, Citigroup’s Jane Fraser, and Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan, were among the approximately 100 attendees of the quarterly CEO meeting hosted by the Business Roundtable in Washington, D.C.
Such a tax cut would be a continuation of the first Trump administration’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which slashed the tax rate from 35% to 21% — a massive reduction that was praised by CEOs across the board, including Dimon. But for corporations raking in billions of dollars each year, even a single percentage point decrease in tax rates means millions more in company coffers.
The Trump tax cuts, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2018, are set to expire next year. In Thursday’s meeting, Trump vowed to make them permanent, and to renew tax cuts for individuals and small businesses, Bloomberg reports. He also promised to reduce business regulations if he is elected.
The Biden administration has taken a less corporate-friendly stance, particularly when it comes to taxation and perks for big businesses. In March, Biden unveiled plans to raise the corporate tax rate to 28% from its current 21%. The White House also has its sights set on an increase to the minimum tax rate on billion-dollar corporations, which would bring it from 15% to 21%.
The Biden administration’s push to make the ultra-wealthy pay their “fair share” also includes a proposed 25% percent minimum tax on the wealthiest 0.01% and raising the marginal income tax rate back to 39.6% for the top 1%.
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients spoke to the same group of executives prior to Trump’s “fireside chat,” Bloomberg reports. President Joe Biden was unable to attend the event due to the Group of 7 summit in Italy.
Zients told the CEOs that Biden remains committed to collaborating with the private sector on economic growth, and described some of the subsidies and infrastructure projects that are expected to deliver material impacts to corporations within the coming months and years, Bloomberg reports. He also drew a contrast between Biden and Trump in terms of America’s reputation and reliability on the world stage.