Trump hypes tax reform in speech to manufacturers

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump boasted to the National Association of Manufacturers on Friday about renewed business confidence and slashed regulations but noted one missing piece of economic improvement: tax reform. The president claimed America has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to restructure the U.S. tax code with pro-business, pro-taxpayer, pro-family, and pro-American reforms. U.S. manufacturing confidence is at an all-time high, he said, but the economy can’t start taking off like it should without a tax code transformation. On Wednesday, Trump outlined a nine-page framework Republican lawmakers intend to use to draft forthcoming tax legislation. The framework includes reducing the number of individual tax brackets from seven to three, cutting the corporate tax rate to 20 percent, and capping taxes for small businesses at 25 percent. “This will be the lowest top marginal income tax rate for small and medium-sized businesses in 80 years,” the president said Friday. “And it will be rocket fuel for our economy.” Reforms will include simplifying the way Americans file their taxes, Trump pledged, reducing wasteful tax compliance spending and confusion: “The vast majority of families will be able to file their taxes on a single sheet of paper.” Republicans have yet to provide a detailed bill but plan to unveil one in the coming weeks.