Yellen Calls Upon Business Leaders to Support Government Efforts

The United States Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, is calling for higher tax rates, urging business leaders to pay their fair share amid increased government spending on stimulus and economic relief packages to stimulate the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Yellen said in her speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the Joe Biden administration intends to raise corporate taxes to fund the huge infrastructure investment plan.

Speaking to the Global Forum on Economic Recovery, she reiterated the call for an international corporate minimum tax rate to ensure fairness.

“With corporate taxes at a historical low of 1% of GDP, we believe the corporate sector can contribute to this effort by bearing its fair share: we propose simply to return the corporate tax toward historical norms.”

The Biden administration wants a “series of tax reforms that ensure that wealthy individuals are paying their fair share.”

Chamber President CEO Suzanne Clark said that “the data and the evidence are clear: the proposed tax increases would greatly disadvantage U.S. businesses and harm American workers, and now is certainly not the time to erect new barriers to economic recovery.

She was also quoted by CNBC as saying, “As in any competition, if you lose one contest, you work harder to win the next. The better the competition, the stronger you will get. That has been the American way.”