Today, Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives supporting passage of legislation (H.R. 33) to prevent the double taxation of Taiwanese residents and businesses engaging in business with Americans.
Video of Smith’s full remarks is linked here. Text is below:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, thank you Mr. Chairman,
I rise today in support of the United States – Taiwan Expedited Double-Tax Relief Act.
The bill, as we’ve been hearing, would align the tax treatment of income earned in the U.S. by Taiwanese residents and businesses with that of any other foreign national from a country with whom the United States has a tax treaty, preventing the double taxation of Taiwanese residents and businesses engaging in business with Americans
Taiwan, we know, is an important and strategic ally in the Indo-Pacific region, a democratic—I might add lowercase democratic—success story, but we know it’s the eighth-largest trading partner to our country.
U.S. exports to Taiwan support hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and cumulative Taiwanese investment in the U.S. totals more than $137 billion.
Taiwan also plays a critical role in our technology supply chains, as we’ve been hearing, and is certainly a key national security partner.
Despite this, on the list of the 66 countries the U.S. currently has income tax treaties with—including China—Taiwan is conspicuously absent.
Eliminating the undue double taxation of Taiwanese residents and businesses promotes economic efficiency and integration, strengthens our strategic partnership with Taiwan, and reinforces the long-term economic stability American businesses and our trusted allies need to invest for the future and combat the influence of bad actors.
In the face of regular threats to its security and economic stability by a predatory adversary, Taiwan and its people have called on us to live up to our commitment as a strategic partner and friend to freedom loving nations.
This is a good bill which delivers an overdue solution to an issue which has strong bipartisan support. I appreciate the discussions that we’ve been having here today. This strengthens ties that we have with a trusted ally as well.
I strongly encourage all my colleagues to support the bill.
Thank you, I yield back the balance of my time.