In a speech in Springfield, Missouri, the president, in typically populist terms, promised ‘the biggest ever’ tax cuts to corporations, with scant specifics beyond cutting the headline rate from 35% to 15%.

He added he would remove ‘loopholes and complexity that primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans and special interests’.

No legislation has been drawn up yet despite months of negotiations. It is considered likely that, as with previous policies such as those around healthcare and immigration, the Trump administration could face a concerted political backlash.

Just yesterday (30 August 2017), Jason Furman, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to President Obama, warned Trump has a ‘very small margin for error’.

‘If you lose just three Republicans in the Senate, or a little bit over 20 Republicans in the House [of Representatives], you can't pass your tax reform if you don't have Democratic votes,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Time is running out for the bill to be drawn up and enacted before the end of the year, with many in Washington keenly aware that should Trump fail to deliver the proposed cuts his first year in office will have yielded no significant legislative change.

Clearly aware of this fact, Trump said: ‘This is our once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver real tax reform for everyday hard-working Americans. And I don’t want to be disappointed by Congress. Lower taxes on American business means higher wages for American workers.’

Although little is known about the bulk of the proposed tax changes, it is widely expected they will include a shift to a territorial tax system. Currently, the US is one of the few countries in the world that taxes businesses on worldwide earnings once they are brought back into the country.

In practice, that system, along with the 35% corporate tax rate sees many major companies decide against repatriating their profits in order to keep them intact.