U.S. Treasury Secretary optimistic on business tax overhaul

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew was optimistic on the business tax overhaul, saying there is potential for agreement with Republican-controlled Congress.

The secretary on Wednesday said in a speech at Brookings that there is possibility of a bipartisan consensus on business tax reform despite the differences on individual taxes.

In a question-and-answer session, the secretary was asked about the odds for successful business tax reform legislation. Lew replied "I'm an optimist, so I'll always say better than 50/50."

In his speech, the secretary reiterated the urgent need to fix the country's tax system, including closing loopholes that allow corporate tax inversions.

"The current tax system makes it too hard for businesses to launch, grow and invest in the U.S. It is too hard for businesses to create the middle-class jobs our country needs. And it is too hard for U.S. business to compete with companies headquartered overseas," Lew said.

The secretary also downplayed the impact of weak global growth on the U.S. economy, saying that "we are in a very different position now than we were even in 2012", when there was a lot of concern that if the weak growth in Europe and Asia might throw the United States back into recession. "Nobody believes that today," said Lew. Endite