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Based on Clinton’s past remarks, it appears that he would support the Republicans’ proposed corporate tax rate of 20 percent.
President Trump and Republicans unveiled their tax reform plan on Tuesday, which calls for lowering the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent, something that former President Bill Clinton supported just a year ago.
CNBC’s Becky Quick asked Clinton in September 2016 what corporate tax rate would incentivize business growth, asking, “Is it 15 percent? Is it 35? Is it somewhere in-between?”
“I was the president who urged it to be raised to 35 percent,” Clinton admitted to Quick.
Clinton explained that when he made the corporate tax rate 35 percent, it was “precisely in the middle of the OECD countries,” but this rate was no longer in the middle, he said.
“I think it should be lowered,” Clinton told Quick. “We should try to get it as close to the international average as we can, so we’ll be competitive.”
According to the Tax Foundation, the worldwide average for the top corporate income tax rate in 2016 was 22.5 percent. Based on Clinton’s support for a corporate tax rate around the world, he would back the Republicans’ plan to lower the corporate income tax rate to 20 percent.