RIO DE JANEIRO — US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday Vice President Kamala Harris shares President Joe Biden’s core values on global and economic issues and would maintain US international leadership if she were elected to succeed him.
In her first public remarks on the issue since Biden ended his re-election campaign and endorsed Harris’ run for president, Yellen said Harris “deeply understands” economic issues from helping families thrive to creating good jobs and bringing down inflation.
“On issues confronting America in the world, she deeply understands what’s necessary and why it is important to restore US leadership on the global stage and she’s been a critical part of that effort,” Yellen told a news conference at a Group of 20 finance leaders meeting in Brazil.
“I feel the core values that have been reflected in the policies of this administration are ones Vice President Harris deeply embraces,” Yellen added.
Harris earlier this week secured support from a majority of delegates to win the Democratic nomination for president and challenge former President Donald Trump for the White House in November. Known mostly for her US domestic work on reducing economic inequality, G20 finance ministers and central bank governors have less clarity about her views on international economic issues.
No rollbacks
Yellen also told reporters that a reversal of the Biden administration’s global economic initiatives—from climate policy to international tax cooperation—would be detrimental to the success of the global economy and America’s place in it.
Without mentioning Trump’s desire to roll back deals such as the two-pillar global minimum tax and a reallocation of taxing rights on large multinationals, Yellen said global cooperation was “deeply in the interests of Americans” and had bipartisan support in Congress.
“I believe there’s every reason for them, regardless of who occupies the White House, to ratify that agreement,” Yellen said of the global corporate tax agreement. “The last thing American companies need is a proliferation of discriminatory and digital services taxes that they will confront in the absence of political cooperation.”
Yellen lauded Biden for strong US growth in recent years, saying the Biden-Harris economic plan had created 15.7 million jobs during their term and was helping to keep the global economy resilient.
She said stronger-than-expected second-quarter GDP growth and lower inflation data showed that the US economy is on a path “to steady growth and declining inflation.”
Taxing the ultra-rich
Regarding Brazil’s proposal for a global tax on billionaires, Yellen said the US was “strongly supportive of progressive taxation” and making the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share of taxes.
She said the US was happy to work with Brazil on propagating ideas for progressive taxation, but declined to endorse a global agreement on taxing the super wealthy.
“Tax policy is very difficult to coordinate globally and we don’t see a need or really think it is desirable to try to negotiate a global agreement on that,” Yellen said. “We think that all countries should make sure that their taxation systems are fair and progressive.” — Reuters
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