A border tax could hurt… natural gas prices, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. If Mexico responded to the tax in kind, there could be ”a wider trade war,” that “could severely hurt US natural gas exports and drive down prices at the Henry Hub,” which sets the benchmark price of US natural gas trading.
A border adjusted tax could also hurt the auto industry. Baum & Associates estimates that automakers would need to hike prices to cover the cost of the House-GOP proposed border-adjusted tax. But the variation in price increases among vehicles is enormous—from nothing for the made-in-America Tesla to $17,000 for Jaguar Land Rovers. UBS Securities estimates that the tax could raise average prices in the US by about 8 percent, or $2,500 per vehicle. In contrast, many economists argue that the tax would strengthen the dollar so that consumer costs would not increase.
How much is a job worth in Tennessee? The state’s largest business tax credit, known as the Industrial Machinery Tax Credit, has created 55 jobs per year, according to independent consultants hired by the state. The credit cost Tennessee an average of $66.7 million a year from 2011 through 2014. That’s $1.2 million per job.
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In Denmark: A new political party. The Nye Borgerlige party, or “The New Right,” is led by Pernille Vermund. She wants to withdraw from the European Union, the Refugee Convention, and the UN convention on statelessness, while strengthening ties with countries like Norway and the United Kingdom to “safeguard free trade.” She also wants “to completely remove” Denmark’s 22 percent corporate tax.
Votes on the Hill this week… The Senate expects to vote on President Trump’s nominations of Steven Mnuchin to lead the Treasury and Tom Price to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
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