President Donald Trump (L) and President-elect Joe Biden in file photographs. (AP Photo; Getty Images) Donald Trump
By Jack Phillips March 31, 2021 Updated: April 1, 2021 biggersmallerPrint
Former President Donald Trump, in a statement Wednesday, responded to the White House infrastructure bill—which would introduce new taxes—and said it is “among the largest self-inflicted economic wounds in history.”
“If this monstrosity is allowed to pass, the result will be more Americans out of work, more families shattered, more factories abandoned, more industries wrecked, and more Main Streets boarded up and closed down—just like it was before I took over the presidency 4 years ago,” the former president said in a statement, adding that the plan will “implement the largest tax hike in American history.”
Trump, in a statement reminiscent of 2016 campaign speeches, said the measure would only serve “China and other large segments of the world” and said would make America lose “the economic war with China.”
With the infrastructure plan’s tax rates, “if you create jobs in America, and hire American workers, you will pay MORE in taxes—but if you close down your factories in Ohio and Michigan, fire U.S. workers, and move all your production to Beijing and Shanghai, you will pay LESS,” Trump said. “It is the exact OPPOSITE of putting America First—it is putting America LAST!”
“Companies that send American jobs to China should not be rewarded by Joe Biden’s Tax Bill, they should be punished so that they keep those jobs right here in America, where they belong,” he added.
Throughout his campaigns and presidency, Trump often emphasized job creation measures, low unemployment rates, and increases in the Dow Jones—while saying that high taxes and regulations would further prompt companies to move their operations and factories to China, Mexico, and other countries.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden started promoting a $2 trillion infrastructure plan, which besides aiming to fix roads and bridges also features an expansive climate change and social welfare agenda, with the White House calling it “the moment to reimagine and rebuild a new economy.”
“Every dollar spent on rebuilding our infrastructure during the Biden administration will be used to prevent, reduce, and withstand the impacts of the climate crisis,” the White House said.
Biden aims to put corporate America on the hook for the tab, which is expected to grow to a combined $4 trillion once he rolls out the second part of his economic plan in April.
Biden has proposed several changes to the tax code, including raising the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from the current 21 percent—the level that the Trump administration brought it down to from 35 percent.
The proposal was also panned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the largest lobbying groups in the United States, which said the higher tax proposal is too much.
