The State - News from Sept. 19, 1985

California’s $18-billion trade deficit with Asia could be wiped clear if the state’s unitary method of taxing multinational corporations were repealed, Mayor Tom Bradley said. Speaking to a special state Assembly hearing on international trade in the Long Beach Harbor Commission board room, Bradley said the future of California depends on repeal of the unitary tax law, which taxes foreign companies with facilities in the state on their worldwide revenues. “This tax is detrimental to international trade,” Bradley said, noting that California is one of only six states in the nation that continues to apply the tariff. He said the tax stifles investment in California, causing foreign corporations to build plants in other states. Bradley said California has been bypassed by at least six large international firms that chose instead to open facilities in Oregon, where lawmakers repealed the tax.