US multinational companies are clamouring for a tax holiday to repatriate billions of dollars “trapped” overseas but are being rebuffed by the Obama administration.

美国跨国公司正大声疾呼要求获得免税期，以将“困陷”在海外的巨额美元资金调回国内，但这一要求被奥巴马政府拒绝。

Research by JPMorgan estimates that that 30-40 per cent of the almost $1,000bn in cash held by non-financial S&P 500 companies is sitting in foreign jurisdictions.

摩根大通(JPMorgan)的研究估计，标普500指数非金融成分股公司所持有的近1万亿美元现金中，有30%-40%在国外。

The issue of “cash on the sidelines” is becoming an increasingly pointed political and economic issue in the sluggish recovery, with Republicans blaming uncertainty created by Democrats’ healthcare and financial reforms for companies’ reluctance to invest and create jobs. But some large groups say that US tax rules are a more important barrier. JPMorgan estimated that for some companies, so-called trapped cash amounts to more than 75 per cent of cash balances. To use the cash domestically, they would have to pay tax, typically between 25 and 35 per cent.

由于美国复苏乏力，“靠边的资金”已日益成为一个尖锐的政治与经济问题。共和党将公司不愿投资和创造就业岗位的问题，归咎于民主党医疗改革与金融改革所带来的不确定性。但一些大型集团表示，美国的税收法规是更重要的障碍。摩根大通估计，对于一些企业而言，所谓的被困资金占到现金余额的75%以上。要在国内使用这些资金，它们必须纳税，通常的税率在25%到35%之间。

“We do have overseas cash and we would be very supportive of a repatriation holiday,” said Keith Sherin, chief financial officer of General Electric. “If you think about it there is a lot of cash trapped overseas, if companies could bring that back at more competitive tax rates I think it would be good for the US economy.”

“我们确实有资金在海外，因此我们会非常支持针对汇回资金的免税期，”通用电气首席财务官凯斯•谢林(Keith Sherin)表示。“仔细想想会发现有很多资金被困海外，如果企业能够以更有竞争力的税率将这些资金调回国内，我想对美国经济会非常有利。”

Sceptics, including inside the administration, say that the cash level alone is not a good guide to investment firepower, noting that it ignores corporate debt levels. They also warn that Congress could create the assumption of more tax holidays, skewing the behaviour of the beneficiaries; that repatriated cash might well be paid to shareholders rather than lead to job creation and that a lack of investment is not the most pressing economic problem. The Treasury declined to comment.

而持怀疑态度者（包括奥巴马政府官员）表示，单看现金水平并不能很好的衡量投资实力，认为这么做忽略了企业的债务水平。他们还警告称，国会这么做会让企业产生免税期会越来越多的臆断，从而扭曲受益者的行为，而调回的资金很可能会用于返还股东，而不是用于增加工作岗位，此外投资不足并不是美国经济最为紧迫的问题。美国财政部拒绝置评。