BAD RETURNS

Trump Tax Law Has Led to Repatriation of Just 3% of the Cash He Promised It Would

President claimed trillions of dollars would flow back after his tax overhaul.

The amount of cash that has flowed back to the U.S. after Donald Trump’s massive tax law overhaul is just 3.5 percent of what the president predicted. The revamp ended the practice of taxing U.S. companies when they brought home foreign profits, with Trump predicting: “Over $4 [trillion], but close to $5 trillion, will be brought back into our country. This is money that would never, ever be seen again by the workers and the people of our country.” However, an analysis by The Wall Street Journal shows just $143 billion has been repatriated—3.58 percent of Trump’s $4 trillion prediction. Companies have announced plans to repatriate an additional $37 billion. Two-thirds of the money already brought back to the U.S. came from just two companies: networking-equipment giant Cisco Systems and drugmaker Gilead Sciences.