Restoring American competitiveness

President Trump's corporate tax reform plan doesn't have much in the way of details, but it does have the right general shape. It slashes rates, closes loopholes and ends our perverse worldwide tax system.

A reform following these general guidelines will reduce the distortions caused by a complex and costlier code, increase the competitiveness of American firms, encourage overseas businesses to come to America and homegrown ones to stay here, and free up capital for innovation and job creation.

The current 35 percent federal tax rate on corporate profits, plus average state taxes, mean business pay a combined rate of nearly 40 percent, the highest in the world.

Other countries, including our top trade partners, have cut their corporate income taxes aggressively in recent decades.

Britain cut its top rate from 30 percent to 20 percent in the past decade. Canada, between 2000 and 2012, dropped its rate even more, from 28 percent to 15 percent. The worldwide average was about 30 percent in 2003, according to the Tax Foundation. Today it's 22.5 percent.