House GOP tax plan gets backing from airlines, semiconductor makers

Both industries are major exporters, meaning that they could benefit under Ryan’s plan to adjust taxes at the border. That policy entails risks for importers like the retailer Walmart, who have lobbied hard to stop the reform.

Semiconductor Industry Association President John Neuffer said that the plan as a whole will make American businesses “more competitive and allow U.S. semiconductor companies to grow, innovate, and create more jobs here in the United States.” His group includes Intel, IBM, Qualcomm and others.

Separately, the Aerospace Industries Association also lent its backing to the House GOP plan and said that it would be joining a group created specifically to advocate for the border adjustment.

In a letter sent to congressional leaders, the group, which includes Boeing and Raytheon, said that it specifically endorses the border adjustability provision of the reform.

Greater industry support for the Republican plan could aid Ryan and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady in solidifying Republican support for their comprehensive tax reform plan. The blueprint calls for taxing imports as part of a broader corporate rate-cutting reform that would tax goods based on where they are sold. In the plan, companies would no longer be allowed to deduct the cost of imported goods and services but would no longer pay any taxes on revenues from exports. In today’s system, U.S. companies are taxed on all profits, whether they are earned in the U.S. or abroad.

So far, fears over border-adjustability have led several Senate Republicans to express doubts about or opposition to the House GOP plan.

Support from exporting industries could also sway the White House on the issue. So far, President Trump’s team has declined to say whether it backs the border adjustment feature.