An online post by Indian National Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh coupled with a new India business analysis shows how Senator Bernie Moreno's Stop International Job Relocation Act could significantly impact India's tech services economy if passed.
On Oct. 6, Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio introduced the Stopping International Job Flow Act—the “JOB Act”—and the bill “was referred to the Senate Finance Committee.” Jairam Ramesh, Member of Parliament and General Secretary (Publicity) of the Indian National Congress, published on X on Monday: “The bill proposes a 25% tax on any U.S. person making an outsourcing payment, defined as “any money paid by a U.S. company or taxpayer to a foreign person whose work benefits consumers in the United States.”
Ramesh wrote that the measure “has a direct and profound impact on Indian IT services, BPO, consulting and GCC (global capability centers).” He added that “other countries such as Ireland, Israel and the Philippines will also be affected, but the maximum impact will be on India's services exports, which have become a notable success story over the last quarter of a century.”
Ramesh noted that the bill “may or may not pass. It may be changed. It may simply be delayed,” but said that “one thing is clear: the bill reflects a growing consensus in the US that while blue-collar jobs have been 'lost' in China, white-collar jobs should not be 'lost in India.'” A year ago, no one expected the India-US economic relationship to take so many hits, of which the bill is yet another reflection. hiring.” He concluded, “If HIRE ever becomes a reality, it will light a fire in the Indian economy, which may have to face a new normal vis-à-vis the US.”
The text of the bill is also creates “Domestic Workforce Fund” to capture the revenue stream generated by the excise tax and specifies that “no deductions are allowed…for any outsourcing payments.”
Moreno in his press release framed The legislation is seen as an attempt to “protect American workers from outsourcing by disincentivizing American companies from chasing lower wages and hiring foreign workers.” The press release states that the legislation “would impose a tax on any company that hires foreign workers instead of Americans and would use the resulting revenue to fund workforce development programs to help the middle class.”
Moreno said, “While college graduates in America struggle to find work, globalist politicians and senior executives have spent decades sending well-paying jobs overseas in pursuit of slave wages and huge profits—those days are gone.” His office noted that “if companies choose to hire foreign workers instead of Americans, my bill will hit them where it hurts most: their pocketbooks.”
Business standard explained said that experienced Indian professionals “already struggling with the newly introduced $100,000 H-1B visa fees may soon face another setback,” and elaborated that former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan observed: “What we are seeing is a gradual expansion of tariffs from goods to services. That is a threat.” Business Standard added that “Trump's political base has been vocal about reducing dependence on foreign labor, especially Indian high-tech workers.”
Business Standard detailed the impact of the Indian sector, noting that US business is the largest source of revenue for India's largest IT companies, and listed the potential impacts as: “Reduced demand for outsourced jobs”, “Tightening visa environment” and “Impact on Indian IT exports”. Rajan added that the HIRE Act is “much more important to us” than increasing H-1B fees.
Moreno's new outsourcing tax proposal comes on the heels of the passage of a separate Safe Hire law. received major support for trade unions. As Breitbart News previously reported on September 25: “Teamsters President Sean M. O'Brien supports a plan from Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) that would significantly increase penalties for executives of companies that hire illegal aliens in American jobs, including prison time.”
In his previous immigration enforcement proposal, Moreno “introduced the SAFE Hiring Act, which would require companies to certify that their workforce is legal and would impose fines of up to $1 million and 10 years in prison if they lie on such reports,” as well as “fines of up to $5 million and 20 years in prison for company executives who hire illegal aliens.”
