The German express mail company DHL is not having a good year. Losses are mounting and now a planned cooperation with US competitor UPS has become a campaign issue. An Ohio senator accuses Deutsche Post of "not playing it straight with us." The plan sounds reasonable enough at first glance. DHL, the express mail service of Deutsche Post in the US, is not doing well, with slow business already having led the company to torpedo its US expansion plans in May. Now, facing losses of up to $1 billion this year, the company is negotiating with competitor UPS in the hopes of cooperating on air cargo. The German-owned express delivery company DHL is looking to partner with UPS -- which would mean the closure of its hub in Wilmington, Ohio. Yet what may seem like a sound business move has the state of Ohio, where DHL is based, up in arms. The entire Congressional delegation from the state has said it would resist any UPS-DHL deal and Ohio Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher told SPIEGEL ONLINE that he would "do everything we can" to prevent the trans-Atlantic marriage. And now, even Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his Democratic counterpart Barack Obama have gotten into the act, each voicing concerns about possible violations of US anti-trust laws.
The German express mail company DHL is not having a good year. Losses are mounting and now a planned cooperation with US competitor UPS has become a campaign issue. An Ohio senator accuses Deutsche Post of "not playing it straight with us."
The plan sounds reasonable enough at first glance. DHL, the express mail service of Deutsche Post in the US, is not doing well, with slow business already having led the company to torpedo its US expansion plans in May. Now, facing losses of up to $1 billion this year, the company is negotiating with competitor UPS in the hopes of cooperating on air cargo.
The German-owned express delivery company DHL is looking to partner with UPS -- which would mean the closure of its hub in Wilmington, Ohio. Yet what may seem like a sound business move has the state of Ohio, where DHL is based, up in arms. The entire Congressional delegation from the state has said it would resist any UPS-DHL deal and Ohio Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher told SPIEGEL ONLINE that he would "do everything we can" to prevent the trans-Atlantic marriage.
And now, even Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his Democratic counterpart Barack Obama have gotten into the act, each voicing concerns about possible violations of US anti-trust laws.
DHL has made every year losses in the US, shutting US operation down seems to be a very sensible business decision. Will US politics intervene at the German gov to put pressure on the Post not to shut down? Will US-German relations suffer from a shut down? Der Amerikaner ist die Orchidee unter den MenschenVolker Pispers
One of the dirty secrets of the American tax system at the state level is that large companies are given exemptions from property taxes at the same time that they demand millions in infrastructure improvements to set up shop. And that has the effect of raising homeowner's taxes. Not to mention that something like 75% of large US companies pay no income tax. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
All of the information on state corporate taxes for the companies came from corporate annual reports to shareholders. Here are some of the key facts that the 252 companies' annual reports reveal: ■ By 2003, these 252 companies had slashed their state income tax payments to an average of only 2.3 percent of their U.S. profits. Since the average statutory state corporate tax rate is about 6.8 percent (weighted by gross state product), that means that in 2003, two-thirds of their profits escaped state taxes entirely. ■ A shocking 71 of the 252 companies managed to pay no state income tax at all in at least one year from 2001 through 2003--despite telling their shareholders they made $86 billion in pretax U.S. profits in those no-tax years. Twenty-five of these companies enjoyed multiple no-tax years.
■ By 2003, these 252 companies had slashed their state income tax payments to an average of only 2.3 percent of their U.S. profits. Since the average statutory state corporate tax rate is about 6.8 percent (weighted by gross state product), that means that in 2003, two-thirds of their profits escaped state taxes entirely.
■ A shocking 71 of the 252 companies managed to pay no state income tax at all in at least one year from 2001 through 2003--despite telling their shareholders they made $86 billion in pretax U.S. profits in those no-tax years. Twenty-five of these companies enjoyed multiple no-tax years.
The report shows that companies skipped out on an average of $14 billion each year in state taxes. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
