American Democratic Senators are lining up to attack the decision of oil and gas service company Halliburton to move its headquarters to Dubai.
In a growing row that has echoes of the attacks on Dubai Ports World’s acquisition of P&O’s US port assets, politicians as senior as Senator Hillary Clinton are wading in to attack the move.
She calls the decision to move Halliburton’s headquarters a “disgraceful” attempt at tax evasion, adding: “I think it raises a lot of very big concerns and we’re going to be looking into it in Washington.
“I think it’s disgraceful that American companies are more than happy to try to get no-bid contracts like Halliburton has, and then turn around and say, ‘You know, we’re not going to stay.”‘
Senator Byron Dorgan added that he will call for a Senate investigation of Halliburton’s move to Dubai.
David Lesar, Chairman, President and CEO of Halliburton, today dismissed any charges of moving to the Middle East for tax purposes. “Dubai is an excellent place to do business. We have the technology, relationships and business opportunities to operate there,” he said.
That assurance will not silence critics in the US. Halliburton has $6 billion in U.S. government contracts and has been charged with waste and overcharging the military in Iraq.
Senator Patrick Leahy called Halliburton’s move, “an example of corporate greed at its worst. This is an insult to the U.S. soldiers and taxpayers who paid the tab for their no-bid contracts and endured their overcharges for all these years.
At the same time they’ll be avoiding U.S. taxes, I’m sure they won’t stop insisting on taking their profits in cold, hard U.S. cash,” he said.
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