Is NAFTA Responsible for outsourcing jobs.?
Perhaps the biggest reason is the US tax code. This is a paragraph from yesterday’s USA Today: “At issue is the US tax code’s treatment of profits earned by foreign subsidiaries of American corporations. Profits earned in the USA are subject to the 35% corporate tax. But multinational corporations can defer paying US taxes on their overseas profits until they return them to the USA–transfers that don’t happen for years. General Electric, for example, has $62 billion in “undistributed earnings” parked offshore, according to recent Securities and Exchange Commission findings. Drug giant Phizer boasts $60 billion. ExxonMobil has $56 billion”. It’s estimated that this cost the US $17.4 billion in tax revenue in 2004. Changing the tax code might keep more jobs here than scrapping NAFTA.
