In a move of breathtaking corporate hubris, the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland, chaired by senior Hewlett-Packard executive Lionel Alexander, has threatened to move its operations to India or China if Ireland raises its incredibly low corporate tax rate of 12.5%, which is currently the lowest in the EU.
For those who haven't been following the international news, the Irish economy is in desperate straits, (sound familiar?), and has just agreed to accept a multi-billion-euro bailout from the EU and the IMF.
French President Nicholas Sarkozy said, "It's obvious that when confronted with a situation like this, there are two levers to use: spending and revenues. I cannot imagine that our Irish friends, in full sovereignty, [would not use] this because they have a greater margin for manoeuvre than others, their taxes being lower than others."
Consider, if you will, the incredible arrogance of these US corporations. They outsourced our jobs to Ireland in order to avoid paying taxes in the USA, where they sell their products. Now they are threatening to flee to China or India if the Irish do not continue to allow them to rob the public treasury by paying a pathetic pittance of an excuse for their fair share.
My friends, the only solution to corporate behavior like this is a tariff on all imports. The corporations, and the evil rich bastards who control them, have sent millions of our jobs overseas, in order to exploit cheap labor. Then, having produced their goods in some third-world country, under sweat-shop conditions, they import those cheap and shoddy goods into the USA, and sell them to us at an obscene profit.
Only by making those corporations pay a steep tariff, of 50% or more, when importing their foreign-made goods into the USA, only by this measure can we bring those career-worthy jobs back home to the USA once again.
All the empty propaganda about "Free Trade" is so much bullshit. This issue is about exploitation of the working people of this world, by the rich, for the profit of the rich. And it has to stop.
Original story in the UK Telegraph here
You are incorrect. The American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland did not threaten to move their operations from Ireland. The American Chamber is a professional association which represents US companies in Ireland. What Lionel Alexander, President of the American Chamber said in an interview with Bloomberg was the following: “HP is very clear, if the tax rate increased we would be relooking at our investment in Ireland,” Lionel Alexander, head of Hewlett-Packard’s Irish operations said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “One of the key reasons we came to Ireland was for the 12.5 percent tax rate, and we think that should stand as part of these negotiations.”
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