US tax reform ‘underlines benefit of company tax cuts’; Turnbull

Malcolm Turnbull has used a meeting with the US Treasury Secretary to step up his push for company tax cuts.

Malcolm Turnbull in Washington. Picture: Nathan Edwards.

The Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has used a meeting with the US Treasury Secretary in Washington today to step up his push for company tax cuts.

Speaking after a meeting with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Mr Turnbull said the Secretary told him Donald Trump’s tax cuts would boost US GDP by almost one per cent.

“President Trump has succeeded in making massive tax reforms here the most significant in well over a generation and company tax has been reduced to 21 per cent from 35 per cent, a very big reduction,” the prime minister said in a press conference outside the White House. “The Secretary of the Treasury Mr Mnuchin expects that will add nearly one per cent to American GDP and that 70 per cent of the benefit for those tax cuts for businesses will flow to workers. Now this is precisely the same arguments that we have been presenting in Australia with regard to our own company tax cut program.”

Legislation to lower Australia’s company tax rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent for companies with a turnover of more than $50 million has passed the House of Representatives but is blocked in the Senate.

Mr Turnbull, who is pushing for the reform, said Australia could also enjoy the sort of economic growth which the US will reap as a result of its sweeping tax reform package.

“The reality is — the experience in the US is they are seeing stronger economic growth because of those tax cuts, it underlines the importance of completing our tax reform program,” Mr Turnbull said.

“It underlines the benefits that flow to workers and employees from having more investment, more jobs and better paid jobs.”

Mr Turnbull said unless Australian company tax was reduced across the board Australian businesses would remain at a competitive disadvantage to the US.

“Of course there is a big competitive factors because while we are the best of friends and the strongest or partners, the reality is that Australia and the US are competitive locations for investment and Australia businesses and Australian investment opportunities will be at a disadvantage relative to those in the us if our tax rate is so much higher.”

Bill Shorten and opposition Treasury spokesman Chris Bowen have not decided whether a ­future Labor government would keep the legislated tax cuts, which lower the rate to 25 per cent over the medium term for businesses with annual turnovers of up to $50 million, but will not back any further cuts.

The government wants to lower the tax rate to 25 per cent for all companies by 2027, with the package expected to cost the budget $65 billion over 10 years.

Mr Turnbull said his would speak with Mr Trump tomorrow to seek reassurance that Australian steel and aluminium exports to the US would not be targeted as part of US attempts to restrict the flow of Chinese steel imports into the US. The US gave that assurance to Australia at last year’s G20 meeting in Hamburg.

Mr Turnbull this morning had a roundtable meeting on cyber security with the head of the National Security Agency Mike Rogers and the Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.

He also had lunch with the US Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats.

Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia

.@TurnbullMalcolm at Arlington Cemetery, where he lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldiers @australian pic.twitter.com/rcHS37QKCb

— Rosie Lewis (@rosieslewis) February 22, 2018