… from ‚discriminatory’ countries (=almost everywhere), including sovereign investors.
The US „Big Beautiful Bill“ provides for a hefty tax increase for foreign investors (hidden in Section 899). Withholding tax on income may go up by up to 20 percentage points.
Surely this will improve attractiveness of US markets. Will we get a stampede from governments and pension funds?
WHEN IS A COUNTRY “DISCRIMINATORY”?
A country becomes “discriminatory” when it implements taxes the US considers unfair, including:
DSTs
DPTs
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Pillar Two measures, notably UTPRs
Any additional taxes the Treasury designates as unfair or discriminatory.
The Treasury will maintain and publish a quarterly updated list of these jurisdictions. Some examples of key jurisdictions and regions that may be affected by this rule include most of Europe, Asia-Pacific (e.g., Australia, India, South Korea, and Japan), Canada, and the Middle East (e.g., Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar). This list is not intended to be exhaustive.
As a kid, when acting in a dumb manner, I remember hearing the phrase " you’d cut off your nose to spite your face".
Trump is doing exactly that.
His tariff policy was an absolute cluster, hence the TACO trade.
And now he is doing his best to cut off the flow of money coming into the US.
I’m an American, but if I was from another part of the World, I
would be looking to remove my money from this no longer safe haven. And it is a problem for the USA if Treasuries are no longer an attractive option for investors. Rates will have to go up to attract investors. So much for cutting the National Debt ( not that I ever thought he meant it, just another fairy tale from the king of b s )
Fortune on the proposed investor tax hike. Looks like it’s about concentrating even more power in the executive‘s hands for unlimited ‚negotiation power‘.
Even House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith, who supports the revenge tax, said during a panel discussion on Friday that he hopes it’s never used and instead acts like more of a deterrent that stops other countries from cracking down on U.S. companies unfairly.
Meanwhile, the Joint Committee on Taxation, the nonpartisan tax scorekeeper for Congress, echoed some of Wall Street’s fears. Thomas Barthold, the committee’s chief of staff, said in a statement to Bloomberg Tax that Section 899 would lead to a “decline in foreign demand for US direct and portfolio investment.”
Had not heard about that one before. Smells like the way some states, that are tourist destinations, tax the daylights out of tourists, because they can’t vote in that state. The current regime gains much of it’s popularity from crying about how the US is a “victim” of everyone and everything else. So, this is framed as more “revenge” for “abusing” the US. In practical terms, the foreigners being taxed can’t vote. Additionally, they bid up the price of US assets, so the USian PTB either pay more, or do not obtain, the assets they want.
It actually does improve the attractiveness of US markets. Investors get a choice pay uncle Sam or expense something against their taxes. That is always a winner for the US economy. If the foreign investor takes the money out after taxes…well it is less money. The US government then invests the money in the US.
Investing in the US makes the US markets more attractive.
Well, I hit the paywall after looking at the article twice, so can’t refer to it again.
Lets game this out, based on my understanding.
A foreign company, let’s say Nippon Steel, pays out a big pile of money to buy a US asset, let’s say US Steel. Then the tax rate on the earnings from that investment is suddenly increased. So, US Steel’s profit margin needs to increase a lot, for Nippon Steel, to realize an acceptable, after tax, ROI. So, double the tariff on imported steel, to give cover for US Steel to increase prices, a lot, so Nippon obtains it’s needed, after tax, ROI. Nippon makes it’s profit. The regime pockets more tax revenue. The regime uses the increased revenue to cover another “JC” tax cut. Everyone wins, except the end users of steel.
How, exactly, is the tax on foreign investor’s income from US assets assessed? Is it charged when the earnings are booked, or is the tax charged when the income is repatriated to the company’s home country?
It is a virtual certainty that domestic producers will increase prices in step with the tariff inflated price of imported material.
Found that Yahoo republished the article, without a paywall.
That means foreign investors, who own trillions of dollars in U.S. assets, could face higher levies on passive income like dividends and interest payments.
So that means a lower net yield, to foreign investors, on US treasuries. A nick to the ROI of companies like Softbank, that invest in US companies.
Seems that the net effect would be to drive foreign investors out of Shiny-land. So more protection for USian “JCs”, as they don’t need to compete with foreigners for assets.
Isn’t TIG’s intention to use the “sovereign wealth fund” full of crypto to do the investing? So, all you need to do is give him a piece of the action, and you are funded.
Section 1. Policy and Purpose. It is the policy of the United States to maximize the stewardship of our national wealth for the sole benefit of American citizens. To this end, it is in the interest of the American people that the Federal Government establish a sovereign wealth fund to promote fiscal sustainability, lessen the burden of taxes on American families and small businesses, establish economic security for future generations, and promote United States economic and strategic leadership internationally.
The Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce shall jointly submit this plan to the President within 90 days of the date of this order.
So the plan should have come out early May. Let‘s hold our collective breath on how to buy US debt and equities with crypto while enriching the nation.
That, and the fact that the US does not produce enough steel to satisfy our own demand for such - essentially guarantees higher prices, empty shelves, and layoffs.
The spike in demand will absolutely result in an increasing cost of domestic supplied steel.