07 Mar 2025 6 min read

The OECD Tax Reversal

A Sovereignty Scam That Betrays America’s Future

Salmon’s article in The Hill is a masterpiece of economic delusion, peddling the idea that Trump’s withdrawal from the OECD’s global tax deal was some kind of heroic defence of American prosperity. In reality, Trump’s move was a short-sighted, self-defeating stunt that undermines U.S. economic leadership, emboldens tax havens, and hurts American businesses far more than it helps them.

This wasn’t a move to “protect sovereignty.” It was a giveaway to corporate tax dodgers, a calculated gut punch to global economic cooperation, and a declaration that the U.S. is willing to kneecap its own interests in the name of performative nationalism.

Let’s break down The Hill article’s key claims and expose them for what they are—hollow, misleading, and deeply flawed.

1. The OECD Isn’t a “European Tax Cartel” – It’s a U.S.-Backed Global Initiative

Salmon paints the OECD as some kind of European bureaucratic conspiracy designed to siphon American wealth. This is either breathtaking ignorance or deliberate dishonesty. The OECD’s global tax framework was not imposed by Europe; it was a multilateral agreement involving 140 countries, including the United States—and it was actively shaped by the U.S. Treasury under both Republican and Democratic administrations before Trump torched it.

The OECD deal was designed to fix a broken tax system where multinational corporations—many of them American—exploit loopholes to shift profits to low-tax jurisdictions, starving governments of revenue and creating an uneven playing field for businesses that actually pay their taxes. It was a pro-business, pro-competition reform that benefited legitimate companies while targeting freeloaders who game the system.

What Trump’s Move Really Means:

It doesn’t stop global tax coordination—other countries will move ahead without the U.S., creating a fragmented, chaotic tax environment for American firms operating internationally.
It doesn’t protect U.S. taxpayers—it forces smaller businesses and middle-class Americans to pick up the tab as corporate tax avoidance runs unchecked.
It doesn’t enhance sovereignty—it isolates the U.S. and forfeits its ability to shape global tax policy.

Trump has handed a gift to tax havens and corporations that hide profits offshore, while leaving U.S. workers and taxpayers to suffer the consequences.

2. The Fantasy That Tax Competition Helps Everyone

Salmon claims that international tax coordination is an attack on “tax competition,” which he paints as some kind of sacred driver of economic growth. This is a fundamental misunderstanding—or deliberate misrepresentation—of how tax competition actually works.

Tax competition isn’t a fair market dynamic where the best policies win. It’s a rigged game where governments race to the bottom, slashing corporate tax rates in a desperate bid to attract investment—at the cost of essential public services.

Since the 1980s, corporate tax rates have been cut drastically across the world, but where has that gotten us?

Infrastructure crumbling in the U.S., while countries with higher corporate tax rates continue to build world-class roads, rail systems, and broadband networks.
Wages stagnating while corporate profits soar.
Small businesses and workers paying more because the tax burden has shifted away from corporations and onto individuals.

This is not about free markets. This is about corporations blackmailing governments into letting them pay nothing. That’s what Trump just enabled.

3. Rejecting the OECD Tax Plan Hurts U.S. Businesses

Here’s a reality that The Hill conveniently ignores:
Many American multinationals actually supported the OECD tax deal.

Why? Because it would have provided consistency, predictability, and a level playing field for companies operating across borders. Without it, these firms now face a patchwork of unilateral taxes imposed by individual countries, creating compliance nightmares and legal uncertainty.

By walking away from the deal, Trump didn’t stop foreign countries from taxing U.S. firms—he just made it harder for those firms to navigate international markets. The world isn’t going to sit back and let U.S. corporations get a free ride. Instead, European and Asian nations will impose their own national tax rules, and without a unified OECD framework, American businesses will be forced to deal with a mess of conflicting policies.

This isn’t economic strength. It’s self-inflicted chaos.

4. The Hypocrisy of “Economic Sovereignty”

Salmon and Trumpists love to cry about sovereignty when it comes to taxation, yet they have no problem wielding U.S. economic power over other nations whenever it suits their interests.

The U.S. freely dictates global trade policy, imposing sanctions, tariffs, and financial regulations that force other countries to comply with American economic priorities.
The dollar’s dominance means the U.S. effectively controls global financial flows, often using it as a geopolitical weapon.
The U.S. pressures developing nations to adopt pro-business policies under the guise of “free trade.”

Yet when 140 countries—including close U.S. allies like Canada, Japan, and the UK—agree on a fairer global tax system, suddenly the U.S. is a victim of “foreign interference”? Give me a break.

You can’t have it both ways. Either you believe in global economic leadership, or you retreat into isolationist dysfunction. Trump has chosen the latter.

5. The Real Threat to American Prosperity

Salmon ends his piece by fearmongering about Europe’s so-called “economic stagnation.” But let’s be clear: If America’s economy is at risk, it’s not because of Europe—it’s because of decades of policies that enrich the ultra-wealthy at the expense of the middle class.

The top 1% in the U.S. control more wealth than the bottom 90% combined.
Corporate tax avoidance costs the U.S. hundreds of billions of dollars annually.
Public investment in infrastructure, education, and healthcare has stagnated while corporate profits hit record highs.

Europe isn’t perfect, but nations like Germany and the Netherlands maintain strong economic performance while funding public services and investing in their workforce. The idea that Europe is collapsing while the U.S. is thriving is a tired, ideological lie designed to justify handing more power to corporations and the ultra-rich.

Simply collecting the tax you're owed would solve every social challenge you have.

Trump’s OECD Reversal Is a National Embarrassment

Let’s call this what it is: a betrayal of American economic leadership, a gift to tax dodgers, and a disaster for U.S. businesses.

It doesn’t protect sovereignty—it weakens U.S. influence in global economic policy.
It doesn’t help American businesses—it makes their international operations harder.
It doesn’t benefit taxpayers—it shifts more of the tax burden onto workers and small businesses.
It doesn’t create prosperity—it protects the ability of corporations to hoard wealth at the expense of national economies.

The world is moving forward. Trump and his allies are dragging America backward. And the only winners are the ultra-wealthy who never wanted to pay their fair share in the first place.

This isn’t sovereignty. This is economic sabotage.

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He didn’t protect American business. He isolated it.
He didn’t stop global taxation. He forfeited U.S. leadership over it.
He didn’t save the economy. He just let tax dodgers keep running the table.

The world is moving forward. Trump is dragging America backwards by the hair.

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