Biden-Harris-Backed Pillar II Establishes a 15 Percent Global Minimum Tax, Surrenders American Sovereignty, Erodes Global Competitiveness
July 26, 2024
Des Moines – As part of its mission fighting for American global leadership, the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce (AmFree) is taking aim at a European Union (EU) law increasing taxes on U.S. companies with operations in Europe. AmFree filed a legal action in the Belgian Constitutional Court challenging the EU’s Undertaxed Profits Rule of Pillar II, a law supported by the Biden-Harris Administration imposing a new 15 percent global minimum tax rate on U.S. companies with operations overseas.
The EU adopted Pillar II in October 2021 after an agreement reached by 137 members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD), an international and intergovernmental economic forum. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who represented the Biden-Harris Administration in the negotiations, supported Pillar II as benefitting “the entire world.” The bipartisan Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated that a global minimum tax could cost American companies $122 billion in revenue to foreign taxes.
“The Constitution is clear: elected members of the U.S. Congress determine tax laws, not foreign governments or regulators with zero accountability to American citizens,” said William Barr, former two-time U.S. Attorney General and Chairman of AmFree’s Center for Legal Action Advisory Board. “The Biden-Harris decision to surrender our sovereignty abroad has weakened our global competitiveness, and forced AmFree to take legal action in Europe.”
“While there are good-faith disagreements about tax policy, most reasonable people can agree that tax generated revenue should stay in America rather than lining the coffers of foreign governments,” added Machalagh Carr, President of AmFree’s Center for Legal Action. “The United States should not yield to another country’s version of best accounting practices, nor should U.S. companies be forced to tell foreign jurisdictions what they have paid to the U.S. Treasury in taxes. With the Biden-Harris Administration unwilling to put American interests above those of the global elite, AmFree is standing up for common sense and American industry.”
After reviewing AmFree’s legal action, the Belgian Court can refer the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union to determine Pillar II’s validity under European law.