McCollum Vote on H.R.33, United States-Taiwan Expedited Double-Tax Relief Act

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 33, the United States-Taiwan Expedited Double-Tax Relief Act. 

When a United States resident or business has income subject to taxation in another country, or vice-versa, they face double taxation and must pay both US taxes and taxes of the other nation. However, the United States may enter into a tax treaty with a country to mitigate this double-taxation for residents and companies earning income in each of the countries. The United States has entered into these bilateral tax treaties with 60 other countries. 

The United States and China have a bilateral tax treaty dating to 1984, which sets the reciprocal rate of withholding at a reduced rate of 10%. However, this treaty has not covered residents of Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Macau. H.R. 33 would create a legislative fix to the double-taxation of Taiwanese residents and companies earning income in the United States by reducing the withholding tax rates on certain on US income from 30% to 10%. These provisions would not go into effect until Taiwan provides those same benefits to U.S. persons and businesses. This bill would bring our tax policy for Taiwan into alignment with the rates in our tax treaty with China.

In 2022, I was proud to support the CHIPS and Science Act (Pub. L. 117-167), a law to bring semiconductor supply chains back to the United States. CHIPS investments are already creating jobs and improving our national security, including through a $123 million award to Polar Semiconductor in Minnesota that will double their production capacity for sensor and power chips. Taiwan leads the market in semiconductor manufacturing and thanks to the CHIPS and Science Act, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TCMC) announced last April that it would make an over $65 billion investment in a semiconductor factory in Arizona, the largest direct foreign investment in a new project in United States history. 

Passage of H.R. 33 will incentivize further investment from Taiwan into the United States which will create more jobs for hardworking Americans and strengthen our domestic supply chains. I join my colleagues in supporting this legislation, and I yield back.