US executives and analysts are now more focused on trade war concerns than the benefits of lower corporate taxes, according to a Financial Times analysis of their public remarks since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act became law a year ago this week.
The act, which slashed headline corporate tax rates from 35 per cent to 20 per cent and provided an incentive to repatriate cash held offshore, transformed most companies’ earnings growth this year and quickly became the biggest topic of discussion between senior executives and Wall Street analysts.
An analysis of transcripts of earnings calls and investor conferences published by Sentieo, the financial research platform, showed, however, that rising anxiety about Donald Trump’s trade policy has overtaken discussion of the historic tax reform in recent months.