An anti-tax advocacy group with ties to billionaire Jeff Yass and shipping magnate Richard Uehlin is vying for a new round of corporate tax cuts if Donald Trump wins a second term in the White House.
The Club for Growth Foundation, whose members have sparred with Trump's advisers over economic policy, says its plan to cut corporate taxes — plus a corresponding push for deregulation — is aimed at boosting U.S. manufacturing, according to a policy proposal obtained by Bloomberg News. The plan calls for generous deductions on business investments and a flat 20% tax on distributed profits.
Club for Growth's operations recently returned to the Trump fold after spending millions of dollars on ads last year in an attempt to convince voters that the former president is unelectable.
With debate over renewing tax cuts expected to consume Congress and the White House next year, the group is seeking to appeal to the former president with their wish list of tax cut ideas. Trump reportedly said in March that he and Club for Growth Chairman David McIntosh were “back in love” after the negative ads they fired at him.
“We are advancing the best freedom agenda from our friends in the conservative movement and promoting it to America's next generation of leaders. American families do not benefit from big government populist policies, and we look forward to a robust debate,” McIntosh said in a statement.
The Growth Club, whose operations include an advocacy group, a nonprofit foundation and allied political action committees, is a major player in conservative economic policy circles. The plan is the opening salvo to a robust debate over tax policy set for next year as key parts of Trump's 2017 cuts expire, including personal rate cuts, business deductions and estate tax restrictions.
Trump has pledged comprehensive tax cuts if re-elected, including all income groups and corporations. But he did not give details of what he would do.
President Joe Biden has said he wants to repeal most of Trump's cuts, keeping only the benefits for those earning less than $400,000.
Yass and Uhlen are the largest contributors in recent years to Club for Growth Action, a super PAC allied with the major advocacy group.
The policy plan includes some ideas that do not directly align with Trump's worldview, suggesting that tax cuts are a better option than tariffs to boost American businesses. McIntosh has opposed economic populists who support higher tariffs and a greater role for the federal government in directing investment. The plan criticizes government grants to American chipmakers and trade barriers to protect favored American industries.
Trump's embrace – or lack thereof – of the policies of the free-market group could have consequences in the November election.
As Trump and Biden compete for blue-collar voters in key battleground states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, each has portrayed themselves as protectionists against China. Trump has proposed 60% tariffs on China while Biden this week announced 100% tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles among other sanctions.
Trump's populist allies include Senators J.D. Vance of Ohio and Marco Rubio of Florida, who have pushed for policies to counter the rise of China and boost manufacturing in the United States. Both men are candidates to be Trump's running mate.
The foundation's research confirms that some tax cuts — such as immediate outlays for corporate investments and rewriting the corporate tax code — would be better for the economy than government subsidies, tariffs and mandates. The document predicts that the $697 billion in tax cuts will be mostly offset by higher growth in the first decade and will pay for itself in the coming decades.
The proposal, which includes positions on education and energy, is a synthesis of the work of scholars and economists at conservative think tanks such as the Tax Foundation and the Heritage Foundation.