Yellen calls for global minimum corporate tax rate in first major address as Treasury secretary

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for a global minimum corporate tax rate on Monday, a pitch that comes as the Biden administration begins to sell its roughly $2 trillion infrastructure and jobs proposal that would raise US corporate taxes to fund the massive plan.

"We're working with G20 nations to agree to a global minimum corporate tax rate that can stop the race to the bottom. Together, we can use global minimum tax to make sure that the global economy thrives, based on a more level playing field in the taxation of multinational corporations and spurs innovation, growth and prosperity," Yellen said in a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. President Joe Biden's infrastructure proposal, called the American Jobs Plan, would raise the corporate income tax rate to 28%, up from 21%. The rate had been as high as 35% before former President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans cut taxes in 2017. Biden said last week that the tax hike "alone will raise $1 trillion over 15 years."