page_title: Jon Huntsman Jr.
section_title: Fiscal policy
hierarchical_section_title: Jon Huntsman Jr. / Political positions / Fiscal policy
caption_attribution_description: Jon M. Huntsman Jr, US Ambassador to the People's Republic of China, speaks during the Global Dimensions of China's Domestic Growth session at The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, China 10-12 September 2009.
context_page_description: Jon Meade Huntsman Jr. is an American businessman, diplomat and politician who served as the 16th Governor of Utah from 2005 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the Ambassador of the United States to Russia from 2017 to 2019, to China from 2009 to 2011, and to Singapore from 1992 to 1993.
  Huntsman has served in every presidential administration since the presidency of Ronald Reagan. He began his career as a White House staff assistant for Ronald Reagan, and was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce and United States Ambassador to Singapore by George H. W. Bush. Later as Deputy U.S. Trade Representative under George W. Bush, he launched global trade negotiations in Doha in 2001 and guided the accession of China into the World Trade Organization. He served as CEO of Huntsman Family Holdings, a private entity that held the stock the family owned in Huntsman Corporation. He has also served as a board member of Huntsman Corporation, and as chair of the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. Huntsman is the only American ambassador to have served in both Russia and China.
context_section_description: In a 2008 evaluation of state governors' fiscal policies, the libertarian Cato Institute praised Huntsman's conservative tax policies, ranking him in a tie for fifth place on overall fiscal policy. He was particularly lauded for his efforts to cut taxes. The report specifically highlighted his reductions of the sales tax and simplification of the tax code. However, the report concluded that: "Unfortunately, Huntsman has completely dropped the ball on spending, with per capita spending increasing at about 10 percent annually during his tenure." He defines his taxation policy as "business friendly".
  As part of his presidential campaign, Huntsman claimed that "our tax code has devolved into a maze of special-interest carve-outs, loopholes, and temporary provisions that cost taxpayers more than $400 billion a year to comply with". The candidate called for "[getting] rid of all tax expenditures, all loopholes, all deductions, all subsidies. Use that to lower rates across the board. And do it on a revenue-neutral basis".
  In addition, Huntsman has proposed reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25%, eliminating corporate taxes on income earned overseas, and implementing a tax holiday to encourage corporations to return profits from offshore tax havens. He favored eliminating taxes on capital gains and dividends.
caption: Huntsman speaking at the World Economic Forum in Dalian, China, in 2009
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