Political India: Engaging America

From The Hindu

At a rare media briefing United States President Barack Obama reiterated his intention to stop giving tax breaks for companies that created jobs overseas rather than on American soil.

Repeating his words from an economy-focused speech in Parma, Ohio, earlier this week, Mr. Obama said, “Instead of tax breaks that encourage corporations to create jobs overseas, we believe in tax breaks for companies that create jobs right here in the U.S. So we have begun to do that.”

Adding that his administration believed only in investments that would make America more competitive in the global economy, he said that such investments would focus on areas such as education, clean energy, research and technology.

Touching upon policy priorities in this regard Mr. Obama said that it was these principles that guided the government over the last 19 months, and were also the very same principles that formed the basis of the additional economic proposals that he offered during the past week.

Mr. Obama is pushing the U.S. Congress to pass a $50 billion infrastructure investment plan to boost employment and also seeks a permanent expansion of tax credits for companies investing in research and development.

In his Friday briefing he emphasised in particular the need to change the incentives faced by companies that deciding to send jobs overseas: “Let us stop giving tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas, let us stop incentivizing that,” he said.

Labels: outsourcing, President Barack Obama, protectionism, tax breaks