What's better than freer trade with a foreign country? Freer trade with the second largest economy in the world:
Japan and the United States signed a revised tax treaty Tuesday aimed at encouraging trade and investment between the world's two largest economies."The new U.S.-Japan treaty will significantly reduce existing tax barriers to investment and trade in both directions,'' U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said in a statement.
The treaty, which will take effect in July, eliminates or reduces withholding taxes on dividend and interest payments by subsidiaries to parent companies in the other country.
As usual, the Republicans are showing Democrats how free trade and corporate taxation are done. We may never know if the signing of the treaty was timed to compete with John Kerry's recent statements on trade and corporate taxation — nor does the agreement appear to be grabbing many headlines — but politics aside, this is good for business as the lowering of taxes can only increase market activity. And if it wished, the White House could preserve momentum from this accomplishment and tackle Kerry on his own issue: So the Democratic candidate wants to lower the corporate rate from 35% to 33.25%? Fine — the House of Representatives can oblige Mr. Bush by introducing legislation to cut by that 5-percent amount. Congress or the president can increase the drop for the double-benefit of aiding business and discovering just how serious Kerry is on principle (and how serious Senate Democrats are in supporting their candidate's platform). Or the GOP can keep the reduction in Kerry's proposal and watch to see if the Senator will vote against it. In fact, has the Democratic presidential candidate's generic centrist appeal invited another round of earnest tax reforms? Why don't we talk supply-side, Senator?
EDUCATE YOURSELF: Not sure about jobs coming from and going to countries abroad? Ask Pejman.