NEWS / US President Donald Trump scraps global corporate minimum tax deal

Newly inaugurated United States President Donald Trump declared that a global minimum corporate tax deal should have no force in the United States without an act of Congress, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Executive Order also instructs federal agencies to explore potential “protective” retaliatory measures against countries with tax measures that “disproportionately” affect US companies.

In a separate Executive Order on trade, President Trump also directed federal agencies to explore the introduction of punitive tax measures against citizens or countries that apply “discriminatory” or “extraterritorial” measures against US entities.

The international tax agreement suspended by Trump was negotiated by outgoing Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen via the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The deal imposes a minimum 15% corporate income tax to prevent companies from registering in tax havens, and was set to take effect in the United States. Donald Trump and most other Republicans opposed the measures, claiming it would be putting American companies at a disadvantage.