Nearly 150 countries have agreed a plan aimed at stopping multinational companies from shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions, but the United States will be exempt from the agreement, prompting criticism from tax transparency groups.
The deal, finalised under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), excludes large US-based multinationals from the proposed 15% global minimum corporate tax. The exemption followed negotiations between the Trump administration and other members of the G7.
The OECD’s secretary general, Mathias Cormann, described the outcome as a landmark in international tax cooperation, saying it would enhance tax certainty, reduce complexity and protect national tax bases.
By contrast, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said the agreement represented a victory for the United States, arguing that it preserved US sovereignty and shielded American businesses from what he described as extraterritorial taxation.
Cormann, a former Australian finance minister with right-wing credentials, was elected to lead the OECD in 2021 with the backing of Donald Trump. He is now the last remaining head of a major international organisation appointed with the support of the US president.
The revised agreement weakens a 2021 deal that introduced a 15% global minimum corporate tax. That earlier plan sought to curb the use of accounting and legal strategies by multinational firms, such as Apple and Nike, to shift profits to low- or no-tax jurisdictions.
Such jurisdictions often include territories like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, where companies typically conduct little or no real economic activity.
Donald Trump criticised the 2021 agreement, negotiated under the Biden administration, arguing that it did not apply to the United States. His administration later threatened retaliatory measures against countries that attempted to tax US companies under the original framework.
Janet Yellen, then US treasury secretary, was a key architect of the 2021 deal and made the minimum corporate tax a central policy goal. At the time, congressional Republicans strongly opposed the plan, warning it would undermine US competitiveness.
In June, the Trump administration reopened negotiations after Republicans rolled back a proposed retaliatory tax measure in a major tax and spending bill. That provision would have allowed the US to impose taxes on companies with foreign ownership and on investors from countries deemed to impose unfair taxes on US firms.
Tax transparency groups have criticised the amended OECD agreement, warning it could reverse years of progress in tackling corporate tax avoidance.
Zorka Milin, policy director at the Fact Coalition, said the deal risked allowing the largest and most profitable US companies to continue booking profits in tax havens.
Watchdog groups argue that the global minimum tax was designed to halt a long-running race to the bottom in corporate taxation, which has encouraged multinationals to shift profits to jurisdictions with the lowest tax rates.
