Industrial Metals Companies Must Raise Voices On Infrastructure, Taxes

In remarks on May 6, President Joe Biden said he was prepared to compromise on the corporate income tax increase that he has proposed to help pay for his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan. (As a reminder, the commander in chief has called for raising the rate from 21 percent to 28 percent.) Specifically, President Biden said he is open to setting the corporate rate between 25 and 28 percent as long as infrastructure legislation also makes sure “the largest companies don’t pay zero” in taxes.

Read more at CNN.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Republicans only would agree to $600 billion in targeted spending for “hard” infrastructure like roads and bridges. Sen. McConnell also has said repeatedly that his caucus will not support tax increases to pay for infrastructure investments.

How would proposed tax hikes impact the U.S. economy? The Penn Wharton Budget Model has concluded that President Biden’s American Families Plan, which includes several individual and small business tax increases, would decrease gross domestic product by 0.4 percent in 2050 compared to current law. Read more here.

MSCI continues to organize its members to advocate for infrastructure investments. Ryerson and MSCI have new “Insight” posts up at www.build-now.org. These short articles explain why it’s time for policymakers to make historic investments in metals-intensive infrastructure. As Ryerson says here, “[C]ompared to the rest of the world we are failing. The United States ranks 13th in the world in terms of infrastructure quality.”

Read MSCI’s post here.

In other news:

• The Business Roundtable estimates every $1 in new infrastructure investment will create $3.82 in economic growth over 20 years and add about a dollar and half to the average hourly U.S. wage. Read more here.
• The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and Rice University economists outline how tax increases could impact the manufacturing sector in a study.  The impacts include: one million jobs losses within the first two years of implementation; a decline in GDP totaling $117 billion by 2023; and an $80 billion decline in ordinary capital, or investments in equipment and structures by 2023.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has made it easy for businesses to make their voices heard on this issue. Click here to use the U.S. Chamber’s advocacy tool to tell members of Congress to enact comprehensive, bipartisan infrastructure legislation before the Fourth of July.

NAM also has created a site where individuals can weigh in with members of Congress regarding tax policy and infrastructure. Use this portal to send a letter.