On Thursday (June 13th) local time, former U.S. President Donald Trump held a private meeting with over 100 American business CEOs in Washington, D.C. After the meeting, Trump's economic advisor, Stephen Moore, stated that Trump conveyed a very "pro-business" message, promising to cut taxes and reduce regulations for businesses if he were to be elected.

Sources reported that business leaders such as Apple CEO Tim Cook, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, and Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan attended the meeting hosted by the Business Roundtable, an organization that typically invites presidential candidates from major parties to speak during election years. President Joe Biden was also invited, but he was absent due to his attendance at the G7 summit in Italy.

Reducing Corporate Tax to 20%

Participants at the meeting said that Trump stated he would reinstate the same economic policies from his first term if he returned to the White House, including reductions in corporate and individual income taxes. "We will provide you with more of the same services over the next four years," said a participant describing the message Trump conveyed to the CEOs. Trump also indicated that if he were to be elected president again, he would like to reduce the corporate tax rate from 21% during his previous term to 20%.

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In 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which reduced the U.S. corporate income tax from 35% to 21%. Many provisions in this tax bill are set to expire in 2025.

Trump's campaign spokesperson, Jason Miller, said that Trump expressed his desire to make all "Trump tax cuts" permanent and to reduce the corporate tax rate to 20%.

Miller also stated that Trump discussed in detail the proposal for tipping tax exemption in the service industry that he had previously mentioned at a campaign rally in Las Vegas, which received strong support from service industry voters at the rally.

Biden has also recently mentioned suggestions for modifying the tax system. In stark contrast to Trump's tax plan, Biden has called for higher taxes on billionaires and large corporations.

Biden proposed that increasing taxes on billionaires and large corporations would help save trillions of dollars for the government over the next decade. This tax increase plan has been included in this year's government budget plan, but the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has indicated that they will not pass the budget.

U.S. media reported that White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, who attended the CEO roundtable in place of Biden, when asked by one of the CEOs how Biden thinks increasing taxes on businesses would affect their competitiveness, Zients responded that the U.S. needs more fiscal revenue and a stable fiscal situation, but believes that businesses can achieve this by maintaining competitiveness and investing domestically.Replace Personal Income Tax with "Universal Tariffs"?

Earlier in the day, Trump also went to Capitol Hill in Washington to hold talks with Republican congressional members, marking his first return to Congress since leaving office.

"The most interesting policy idea at this morning's Republican meeting at the Capitol Hill Club was: President Trump briefly proposed the concept of eliminating the income tax and replacing it with tariffs," Kentucky Republican Congressman Thomas Massie said in a social media post.

Sources who attended the meeting said that Trump discussed using tariffs as a means of diplomatic negotiation when meeting with Republican lawmakers.

However, Trump's proposal to replace the income tax with tariffs on the same day quickly attracted criticism from industry experts.

Some economists believe that Trump's plan will not generate the revenue that the income tax brings in and may harm exports.

Erica York, a senior economist and research director at the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, wrote on social media: "With total personal income of about $15 trillion, the government collects about $2 trillion in income tax revenue. With current imports of $3.4 trillion, tariff revenue is about $80 billion. Good luck trying to squeeze $2 trillion in tax revenue from $3 trillion in imports."

Bryan Riley, director of the National Taxpayers Union, said that based on the current level of U.S. imports, "a 71% tariff rate" would be needed to generate revenue at the same level as the income tax.

"However, a 71% tariff would significantly reduce the volume of imports," Riley said. "Therefore, the revenue generated would be far less than $2 trillion."

"If Trump's proposal is true, then he would collect tariffs with one hand and collect (consumer) taxes with the other," Nate Herman, Senior Vice President for Policy at the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), said, "Trump's proposal is not about putting more money in the pockets of American workers, but rather significantly increasing taxes on hardworking Americans, especially middle and low-income Americans who have already paid a huge implicit tax rate for clothing, shoes, and backpacks, which are products that American citizens must buy for themselves and their families."