Paul Rand, the world’s most successful fashion designer, has said that a “significant” number of Americans are now “on the fence” about the proposed US income tax cuts, in a speech at the University of California, Los Angeles.
In a speech on Friday, Rand said that it would be “very, very difficult” for a US company to sell in China or other Asian markets without paying US taxes, and suggested that a number of high-end brands should be forced to pay an extra $10m (£6.3m) to avoid such a situation.
Rand said the new income tax changes were designed to make the rich pay their fair share, and urged people to “think about the tax system”.
He also said that the “prestige” of the US economy had been undermined by the tax cuts that have already been announced, adding that the country had a “moral responsibility” to do more to help the middle class.
“We’ve got a problem that is really serious.
There is a large number of people who are now in doubt about whether or not they are going to pay any tax at all,” he said.”
The reason for this is because of the way the tax code is structured.
People have been told for generations that there’s a way of paying tax without paying any tax.”
The billionaire fashion designer has also described the proposed changes as “not fair” and suggested they would force a “disastrous trade war”.
“We will be in a trade war.
You can’t just tax the rich.
You have to tax the middle classes,” he told the university’s Business School.”
You’ve never taxed the middle Americans.”
The tax cuts were announced on Monday by President Donald Trump, who has promised to cut the corporate tax rate to 15% and the estate tax to 50% from 35%.
A US House of Representatives report on Tuesday found that the tax reforms would save the government $1.5tn over the next 10 years, and the Tax Foundation, a conservative think tank, said the plan would also boost economic growth by nearly 2%.
Trump has also said the US would cut taxes for many Americans, but Rand said he did not expect that to happen.
“I don’t expect that.
I think there’s enough people in the country who feel they are not getting what they are entitled to that will say no to tax cuts.
There are many Americans who feel like they are being treated like serfs,” he added.
Rand’s comments came after the US Senate passed legislation that would allow the US to levy a tax on foreign profits earned in the US, and allow US companies to pay less tax in overseas jurisdictions.
The legislation would be similar to the one the House of Republicans voted on earlier this month, which also called for a reduction in the corporate rate to 20% from 33%.
However, Rand’s comments are a departure from the rhetoric used by some Republicans.
Earlier this week, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told Fox Business that the bill should be vetoed, but not because it was “unfair”.
“I’m not going to tell you that the Senate should pass this bill because I don’t think it’s fair.
I don, and it’s just unfair that we have to go through this,” he remarked.
Graham’s remarks drew criticism from Democrats, including Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, who said that Rand was making a “tactical mistake” by suggesting that the US should not impose a tax.
“There are a lot of very talented people who work in America.
They are very good people,” Wyden told the Associated Press news agency on Tuesday.”
But there are people in other countries who are paying a very high amount of tax.
And so what are you going to do?”
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said that there were many “good Americans” who were not paying their fair market value in the tax scheme.
Whitehouse also argued that a US tax increase was needed to “get the economy back on track”.
Rand’s remarks are in line with the stance of some Republican senators, who have previously called for lower tax rates on corporations and high earners.
Senator Mike Lee of Utah said in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek last week that the proposal was “not the right approach”.
The tax reform bill has been widely criticised for its complexity and lack of detail.
The US Senate has already passed two tax bills, which the House passed earlier this week.
The House bill would increase the standard deduction from $12,000 to $24,000, and would increase tax deductions for mortgage interest and state and local taxes, to $12.50 and $24.50 respectively.
However, it does not include an estate tax cut, and is expected to be vetoed by President Trump, as he has previously threatened to do.