Canadians seem nervous.
"That’s a debate for Americans to sort out.
For Canadians, there will be others. In the wake of this bill, policy-makers in Ottawa and the provincial capitals face two dilemmas: whether to react to these ground-shifting tax changes, and how.
In the blink of an eye, the mighty southern neighbour goes from having one of the highest corporate tax rates in the industrialized world to one that is equal to Canada’s combined federal-provincial rates, which average around 27 per cent.
For about three decades, tax expert Jack Mintz says Canada’s competitive edge in attracting business investment has rested on a pair of pillars — a far lower corporate tax rate, and free trade.
One pillar is gone, with the U.S. tax change. The other is wobbling. Tr... ‘Do I invest in Canada, with a small population, small market, to serve the North American market, or do I go to the United States?”‘ said Mintz, of the University of Calgary."
Germans too
The tax competition will have a new dimension,” said Christoph Spengel, chairman of the corporate tax department at the University of Mannheim. Mr. Spengel, who is also a research associate at the Center for European Economic Research, and a group of tax experts at the university have done a detailed comparison of the two countries’ tax systems and published a report under the heading, “Germany loses out in US tax reform.”
Clemens Fuest, who heads the Ifo economic think tank, also said he believed German business would suffer. “Investments and jobs will migrate to the US,” he said.