Did US companies repatriate hundreds of billions of dollars after the Trump tax cuts?

American multinational companies brought hundreds of billions of dollars to the U.S. after a tax cut law signed by President Donald Trump.

In mid-2017, U.S. companies held about $3 trillion in profits overseas. That averted paying the U.S. corporate tax rate of 35%, one of the world’s highest.

Trump signed a law that cut individual income tax rates essentially across the board and reduced the corporate rate to 21%, in December 2017.

Firms repatriated $777 billion in 2018 alone.

The repatriation claim was made by Trump in his nomination acceptance speech July 18, 2024, at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Nonpartisan federal agencies have estimated the tax cut will add up to $2 trillion to the federal debt over 10 years.