State of Colorado Archives: on Free Trade

Bob Schaffer: Reducing repatriation tax pumps capital into economy

“When you give these companies a [tax] holiday, that rewards these companies for creating these jobs overseas & not here,” Udall said.

Schaffer, however, said a temporary reduction in the repatriation tax would, in fact, strengthen the US economy. “What would be a more powerful boost to the economy is exploring multiple strategies to pump private capital, real dollars, into the economy,“ Schaffer said. He said Congress did this as recently as 2004, dropping the repatriation tax from 35% to 5.25%, bringing $362 billion into US banks.

Schaffer said Udall’s criticism of the plan to lower the repatriation tax is curious: ”He voted for it at its last step before it went to the president,“ Schaffer said. According to congressional records, Udall voted for the 2004 American Jobs Creation Act on Oct. 4, 2004, after he voted against it in June.

Mark Udall: Reducing repatriation tax rewards sending jobs overseas

"When you give these companies a [tax] holiday, that rewards these companies for creating these jobs overseas & not here," Udall said. Instead, he said Colorado leaders should be focused on restoring the financial markets' vitality and instituting oversight to prevent future crashes. "It's exactly that kind of thinking that got us into this crisis to start with, Udall said of Schaffer's plan.

Schaffer, however, said a temporary reduction in the repatriation tax would, in fact, strengthen the US economy. "What would be a more powerful boost to the economy is exploring multiple strategies to pump private capital real dollars, into the economy," Schaffer said.

Schaffer noted that Udall "voted for it at its last step before it went to the president." Udall voted for the 2004 American Jobs Creation Act on Oct. 4, 2004, after he voted against it in June.

Walker Stapleton: Tariffs on China escalate trade war & hurt businesses

Jared Polis (D): Unknown.

Walker Stapleton (R): No. Is concerned about escalating trade war hurting Colorado industries.

Jared Polis: Will strongly criticize misguided efforts to impose tariffs

Jared Polis: Tariffs are a regressive tax that hurt our economy

POLIS: There's certainly no upside. I do still hear some Pollyannish conservative economists that think that what Trump is doing is negotiating to get better tariffs rates, get them down to zero. That's the opposite of what we're seeing. With Europe, we have historically had a tariff rate of 2% to 3%. This new deal is 15%, five times higher than it's ever been, Americans paying 15% more for many products on the shelf, and discouraging manufacturing from even setting up in the United States. I'm hearing from manufacturing companies that want to establish and invest overseas to avoid our tariffs on the parts and materials they need to make their products. So there's no upside. There is uncertainty. Obviously, we can all hope that President Trump is actually playing some master game to get to zero tariffs. But he seems to like tariffs for the sake of tariffs. They're a tax. They're a regressive tax. They hurt our economy.

John Hickenlooper: Tariffs put an unbearable burden on small businesses

"All these tariffs, in one way or another, they're not bringing manufacturing back to this country," Hickenlooper said. "What they're doing is putting an unbearable burden on small businesses like we see here."

Phil Weiser: Praised court ruling blocking Trump's tariffs

"Today the U.S Court of International Trade struck down and permanently blocked the president's illegal tariffs," Weiser wrote. "As the court explained, the law does not give the president unbounded power to impose vast tariffs on goods from nearly every country in the world.

Gov. Jared Polis said, ". Colorado helped lead a lawsuit against this tariff tax. This is great news for our economy and every American family. I am grateful that this court decision striking down many tariffs checks the sweeping presidential power that the President has attempted to impose on the American people and businesses. The President's tariff tax on groceries and everyday items is bad for hardworking people, our economy and business certainty."