According to the FT, a law passed in the House and due to be considered in the Senate next month says that U.S.-based subsidiaries must pay taxes on funds transferred overseas even if they make transactions through countries with favorable tax treaties.

Currently companies with headquarters in countries that have no tax treaty with the U.S., such as Taiwan, Singapore and Korea, can avoid a 30 percent tax on funds transferred from U.S. subsidiaries by setting up units in countries with tax treaties.

To put an end to this, Lloyd Doggett, a Texas Democrat, and other 42 lawmakers proposed the new measure known as the Doggett law last May. If the bill becomes law, the FT estimates companies with large operations in the U.S. such as Samsung and Japanese carmakers would have to pay much more in taxes.

Currently, Samsung makes tax-free transfers from its U.S. subsidiary to its financing unit in the U.K. Under the Doggett law, Samsung's U.S. subsidiary would have to pay 15 percent tax on those transfers, the FT said.

Multinational companies including Panasonic, Unilever, Allianz and Honda are lobbying against the bill, the FT said. "It would unfairly discriminate against foreign companies that create U.S. jobs and would interfere with legitimate business activity," a Washington lobbyist told the newspaper.

(englishnews@chosun.com )