DUBLIN: President Donald Trump has singled out Ireland for its extraordinarily low corporate tax rate, making the case that the United States must overhaul its own tax code to win back American investment and jobs.
“For too long, our tax code has incentivized companies to leave our country in search of lower taxes,” Trump said last month. “Many, many companies, they’re going to Ireland. They’re going all over.”
But Irish government officials, accountants and highly skilled workers say the U.S. tax overhaul poses little threat to Ireland, a preferred European home for the United States’ top tech and pharmaceutical companies for a generation. They expect American companies to keep investing unabated in Ireland, with little incentive to move back to the United States.
The Emerald Isle’s collective shrug when faced with the prospect of a lower U.S. corporate rate underscores why many experts are forecasting that the GOP tax plan will do little to alter the forces that drive American industry overseas. If anything, some argue, U.S. moves could make Ireland an even more attractive landing spot for members of the Fortune 500 in Europe.
The GOP tax plan moved closer to becoming law Wednesday after Republican negotiators in the House and Senate agreed on how to reconcile most of their differences. The goal is to send legislation to Trump next week.
