So I've read the comments deeper in the thread and I think it makes sense to come back to your original statement. Which is: > US relies primarily on corporate

So I've read the comments deeper in the thread and I think it makes sense to come back to your original statement. Which is: > US relies primarily on corporate and income taxes. This creates an asymmetry in taxation that affects trade. When US companies sell goods abroad, they don’t get a tax refund because the US has no VAT. As other have pointed out, European companies also pay corporate taxes, so it's a moot point. In addition it's irrelevant because these are paid on profits, not income. No company includes taxes on its potential profits in the price of its products, that's nonsensical. You calculate the price based on your costs and the margin that maximizes your profit. Any taxes on those profits are not a burden on your costs of production or doing business in any way. Again, nonsense. So there is no asymmetry. And if the European companies get their VAT back, it's also moot because the US company never paid any to begin with.