Treaties

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, speaking of economic growth and development, the Senate will soon turn our attention to a number of bilateral tax treaties with important U.S. trading partners. We have these kinds of agreements in place to reduce tax evasion, tax avoidance, and unfair double taxation of U.S. citizens and businesses who conduct businesses overseas. The four we will consider this week are agreements with Spain, Switzerland, Japan, and Luxembourg.

The U.S. Government and each of these foreign governments have painstakingly negotiated updates to existing agreements about how certain kinds of commerce would be taxed and which country will tax them. In short, Senate ratification of these protocols would mean less confusion, more certainty, and, often, fewer taxes for U.S. job creators--and, by the way, a simpler rule book for overseas investors who want to invest their money here. Fairer treatment for our own American job creators and more enticement for foreign investment to head to our country--that is what we would call a win-win.

We are talking about a serious economic impact. In addition to the four countries we are tackling this week, there are three more nations with tax treaties pending which I know the administration is continuing to work on with the Foreign Relations and Finance Committees to finalize work on these remaining agreements.

Combined, these seven foreign countries invest more than $1.2 trillion in the United States. That is more than $1 trillion in foreign investment and, by some estimates, hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs are tied up, either directly or indirectly, in trade with these countries.

These trading relationships touch all 50 States. Every one of my colleagues is familiar with communities that benefit from the foreign investment. For my part, that includes thousands of workers in Kentucky.

One major manufacturer with ties to Spain employs 1,500 people in my State. It accounts for more than one third of all the stainless steel produced in the United States every year. Over the three decades it has operated in Carroll County, the surrounding communities benefited from more than $60 million in tax revenue.

That is just one of many job creators in my home State, and it is far from the only one with a serious interest in seeing these measures get across the finish line. From consumer goods makers to industrial suppliers, Kentucky continues to welcome job-creating investment from around the world.

I think practically every American is familiar with Hot Pockets, a culinary staple of busy families, workers, and college students everywhere. But not everyone knows that, as of several years ago, every single Hot Pocket is cooked in Mount Sterling, KY. The facility employs more than 1,000 Kentuckians. The parent company is Nestle, based in Switzerland. So there are not only hard-working Kentuckians but also a lot of hungry consumers across the country who can understand why we need to keep our international trade in sync.

Passing these agreements will help every State to keep up the economic momentum. It will reinforce the international trade that is so essential to our economic success and help stave off further trade disruptions. I urge all of our colleagues to join me in voting for these this week.

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