President Donald Trump's tax reform plan will be the biggest tax cut and the largest tax reform in history, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.
Mnuchin, speaking at an event Wednesday morning hosted by The Hill, said that Trump's proposed plan would be released later in the day and would outline principles of tax reform that would hopefully turn into a bill.
"We had a very successful meeting last night, and I think it’s clear that the House, the Senate, and the administration are all on the same page that tax reform is a major priority to boost the economy, that the fundamental principles of making business tax competitive, we have a very uncompetitive system that’s hindering the economy and jobs," Mnuchin said.
"We want to make business competitive," the secretary continued, "and we want to simplify the tax system, lower taxes, and create economic growth so this is going to be the biggest tax cut and largest tax reform in the history of our country, and we are committed to seeing this through."
Mnuchin also confirmed media reports saying that the corporate tax rate is going to be cut to 15 percent: "That is what the president said in the campaign. He thinks that’s absolutely critical to drive growth."
"People talk about pass-throughs, what we think is important is small business, and we are committed that small businesses, owner operators will have the benefit of the business rate," said Mnuchin. "What this is not going to be is a loophole to let rich people who should be paying higher rates pay 15 percent, this is going to be for small businesses that drive the economy, and they will have the benefit of this."
The Treasury secretary also reiterated the administration's goal to simplify taxes and create economic growth. "Our objective is simplifying personal taxes for most Americans. We think they should be able to do their taxes on a large postcard."
"In terms of economic growth, the president and I and others in the administration fundamentally think we can get to 3 percent sustained economic growth," he said. "That's very achievable. Tax reform is critical to it, regulatory reform is critical to it. I think as you know we've been working very hard on the president's executive orders and we are focused on creating economic growth."
Mnuchin said that economic growth created by the plan would pay for the large tax cut.
With regard to the border-adjustment tax, which was included in the House Republican tax reform plan introduced by Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), Mnuchin hinted that this policy may not be included in the tax proposals released by the administration today. The border-adjustment tax would increase taxes on imported goods by 20 percent.
"We are going to release the details of the plan later today so I'm not going to go through all of the specifics with you," Mnuchin said.
"We've been talking to [House Ways and Means chairman Kevin] Brady and Speaker Ryan on this for a long period of time and as I've said before there are many aspects of it we like, there's certain things we are concerned about," he said. "What we've discussed with them is we don’t think it works in its current form, and we're going to continue to have discussions with them about revisions that they will consider."