Saturday, January 14, 2012
Obama to give tax breaks to ‘insourcers'
From The Hindu
After a lull in 2011 during which United States President Barack
Obama focused on fire-fighting for domestic economic issues, his administration
would appear to have once again trained its gun on the thorny question of
outsourcing, particularly a thrust towards preventing jobs migrating to
off-shore locations such as India and China.
At a rare ‘Insourcing American Jobs' forum at the White House this
week, Mr. Obama resurrected the anti-outsourcing debate when he noted that in
the next few weeks ahead he would be putting forward “new tax proposals that
reward companies that choose to bring jobs home and invest in America.... We're
going to eliminate tax breaks for companies that are moving jobs overseas.”
Although the second year of his tenure saw him make similar
remarks that his critics described as protectionist, his visit to countries such
as India and South Korea during the following year shifted attention to trade
deals inked with these nations. Yet, this week the U.S. President appeared to be
gearing up to put all his administration's heft behind the top policy priority
of this election year — job creation.
Flanked by senior business leaders from companies such as Ford,
Mr. Obama said at the insourcing forum, “What these companies ... have in common
is that they... are bringing jobs back to America. You've heard of outsourcing.
“Well, these companies are insourcing. These companies are
choosing to invest in the one country with the most productive workers, the best
universities, and the most creative and innovative entrepreneurs in the world,
and that is the U.S.”
Reiterating his oft-stated goal of boosting American exports, he
added that the target he had set of doubling U.S. exports of goods and services
by 2014 would be met “a little ahead of schedule,” and that would be on the back
of trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.
He also took a political shot at potential Republican presidential
Mitt Romney, who formerly worked for private equity firm Bain Capital, when he
said, “I don't want America to be a nation that's primarily known for financial
speculation and racking up debt buying stuff from other nations.”
Building a strong economic case for the new emphasis on
insourcing, Mr. Obama noted that labour costs were going up in places like China
but contrarily the U.S. had become much more productive. “We continue to be the
largest market in the world,” Mr. Obama said, adding, “That's the economic
case.”
Labels: outsourcing, U.S. economy, U.S. employment
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Samalkot on Obama’s strategic map
From The Hindu
United States President Barack Obama had gained some notoriety for his administration’s sometimes strident views on jobs moving from “Buffalo to Bangalore.” Now the President’s oratory has given birth to a new and more positive sound bite in the realm of strategic geography: “Samalkot to Schenectady”
At a speech in Schenectady, New York, this week Mr. Obama mentioned the small Andhra Pradesh town and industrial complex venue no fewer than five times.
And unlike the references to American jobs getting “Bangalored,” a regular feature of the Obama speeches of 2010, the President struck an optimistic note on the role of U.S.-India commercial relations in spurring domestic job creation.
Speaking about his November 2010 visit to India at a plant of electric goods major General Electric Mr. Obama said, “Part of the reason I wanted to come to this plant is because this plant is what that trip was all about.”
He went on to explain that during that visit U.S. businesses were able to reach agreements on exporting over $10 billion in goods and services to India, and that was, according to him, expected to lead to 50,000 jobs created in the U.S.
Mr. Obama supplied some details of the Samalkot-GE deal in particular, noting that “As part of the deal we struck in India, GE is going sell advanced turbines -- the ones you guys make -- to generate power at a plant in Samalkot, India.”
He quipped, “Most of you hadn’t heard of Samalkot but now you need to know about it, because you’re going to be selling to Samalkot, India.”
“That new business halfway around the world is going to help support more than 1,200 manufacturing jobs and more than 400 engineering jobs right here in this community -- because of that sale,” he added, to loud applause.
More broadly this and other recent speeches by Obama administration officials appear to point to a renewed emphasis on U.S. exports and job creation, said to be a top policy priority for 2011. This was a point that Mr. Obama further underscored in his Schenectady speech, when he said, the Samalkot agreement was a “perfect example of why promoting exports is so important.”
“That is why I have set a goal of doubling American exports within five years. And we are on track to do it. We are already up 18 per cent and we are just going to keep on going, because we are going to sell more and more stuff all around the world,” Mr. Obama said.
Commenting further on the GE deal he added, “The deal in Samalkot means jobs in Schenectady. That’s how we accelerate growth. That’s how we create opportunities for our people.”
Yet competing internationally to sell goods, especially in countries such as China, was equally a major theme of the speech, and the President said, “The Chinese were selling a lot to us. Folks were selling a lot to us from all over the world. We have got to reverse that.”
He further said that in an ever-shrinking world, the U.S.’ success would be determined not only by what it built build in Schenectady, but also what it could sell in Shanghai. “For America to compete around the world, we need to export more goods around the world. That is where the customers are. It's that simple,” he said.
United States President Barack Obama had gained some notoriety for his administration’s sometimes strident views on jobs moving from “Buffalo to Bangalore.” Now the President’s oratory has given birth to a new and more positive sound bite in the realm of strategic geography: “Samalkot to Schenectady”
At a speech in Schenectady, New York, this week Mr. Obama mentioned the small Andhra Pradesh town and industrial complex venue no fewer than five times.
And unlike the references to American jobs getting “Bangalored,” a regular feature of the Obama speeches of 2010, the President struck an optimistic note on the role of U.S.-India commercial relations in spurring domestic job creation.
Speaking about his November 2010 visit to India at a plant of electric goods major General Electric Mr. Obama said, “Part of the reason I wanted to come to this plant is because this plant is what that trip was all about.”
He went on to explain that during that visit U.S. businesses were able to reach agreements on exporting over $10 billion in goods and services to India, and that was, according to him, expected to lead to 50,000 jobs created in the U.S.
Mr. Obama supplied some details of the Samalkot-GE deal in particular, noting that “As part of the deal we struck in India, GE is going sell advanced turbines -- the ones you guys make -- to generate power at a plant in Samalkot, India.”
He quipped, “Most of you hadn’t heard of Samalkot but now you need to know about it, because you’re going to be selling to Samalkot, India.”
“That new business halfway around the world is going to help support more than 1,200 manufacturing jobs and more than 400 engineering jobs right here in this community -- because of that sale,” he added, to loud applause.
More broadly this and other recent speeches by Obama administration officials appear to point to a renewed emphasis on U.S. exports and job creation, said to be a top policy priority for 2011. This was a point that Mr. Obama further underscored in his Schenectady speech, when he said, the Samalkot agreement was a “perfect example of why promoting exports is so important.”
“That is why I have set a goal of doubling American exports within five years. And we are on track to do it. We are already up 18 per cent and we are just going to keep on going, because we are going to sell more and more stuff all around the world,” Mr. Obama said.
Commenting further on the GE deal he added, “The deal in Samalkot means jobs in Schenectady. That’s how we accelerate growth. That’s how we create opportunities for our people.”
Yet competing internationally to sell goods, especially in countries such as China, was equally a major theme of the speech, and the President said, “The Chinese were selling a lot to us. Folks were selling a lot to us from all over the world. We have got to reverse that.”
He further said that in an ever-shrinking world, the U.S.’ success would be determined not only by what it built build in Schenectady, but also what it could sell in Shanghai. “For America to compete around the world, we need to export more goods around the world. That is where the customers are. It's that simple,” he said.
Labels: Barack Obama administration, India-U.S. business ties, outsourcing, U.S. economy
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
No tax breaks for companies "shipping jobs overseas": Obama
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
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Prevent jobs of the future going to India, China: Obama
From The Hindu
Even as the November elections loom on the horizon and Democrats grow fearful of losing seats in both Congressional chambers, President Barack Obama is becoming increasingly strident in defending his top domestic priority — job creation.
Unfortunately for countries such as India, this has come to mean the controversy over outsourcing rearing its ugly head with heightened frequency. In particular, fears that the President's words are more than just rhetoric.
His most recent speech, made at a Democratic National Convention fundraiser, was a good example. While his audience comprised mainly party stalwarts and thus Mr. Obama's reversion to the conventional wisdom of economic protectionism was not surprising, it was the specific mention of India in the context of American jobs being lost that raised eyebrows.
The line that probably has Indian Ministry of External Affairs officials worried is this: “When I took office... we put forward a new economic plan — a plan that... is focussed on making our middle class more secure and our country more competitive in the long run — so that the jobs and industries of the future aren't all going to China and India, but are being created right here in the U.S…”
In particular, the MEA must despair that the very same rhetoric that led to calls to stop American jobs getting “Bangalored” has resurfaced at the highest level of this administration: specifically the President's war cry that the choice in the November election was between policies that had encouraged job creation in the U.S. versus those that encouraged jobs to go elsewhere.
In a reference to policies that could keep jobs on U.S. soil, he added, “That is why I have said instead of giving tax breaks to corporations that want to ship jobs overseas, we want to give tax breaks to companies that are investing right here in the U.S…”
And what could be worrying policymakers and the private sector in India even more is the fact that the White House appears to be considering blocking the so-called “jobs of the future” from fleeing overseas.
In the context of the U.S.' “home-grown, clean energy industry,” Mr. Obama said: “I do not want to see the solar panels and the wind turbines and the biodiesel created in other countries. I do not want China and Germany and Brazil to get the jump on us in the industries of the future. I want to see all that stuff right here in the U.S., with American workers.”
Yet those feeling the pinch of such policies in India may ultimately seek solace in the fact that it may be — ironically — their American private sector counterparts which would help prevent the U.S. from going into a protectionist tailspin.
Even President Obama could not help but recognise that his cherished dream of large-scale job creation depended on corporate America, which has been the most important force pushing for the offshoring of jobs, on the grounds of efficiency and labour cost variations.
Coming as close as he could to recognising this paradox at the heart of the outsourcing controversy, Mr. Obama was forced to concede to his fellow Democrats the importance of the U.S. private sector in rescuing the ailing economy: “Instead of losing millions of jobs... [the U.S. has] created jobs for six straight months in the private sector. Instead of an economy that is contracting, we have got an economy that is expanding.”
Labels: India, jobs, outsourcing, President Barack Obama, U.S.
Subscribe to Comments [Atom]
