WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton on Wednesday will propose a new ‘‘exit tax’’ aimed at cracking down on corporate inversions, a practice that lets US companies merge with corporations overseas to lower their tax bills.
The new tax would be part of a broader effort to target what analysts say is roughly $2 trillion in profits US companies are hoarding abroad to reduce their taxes.
Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, will propose spending the revenue raised by the new tax to boost manufacturing jobs, campaign aides said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the official announcement.
Clinton’s proposals are part of the economic agenda her campaign has been rolling out this month. They include boosting infrastructure spending by $275 billion and making other new investments in research and clean energy.
Her new jobs plans come amid charges that her fortunes are far too intertwined with Wall Street’s, a position rivals like Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders say will prompt her to take a softer position on regulating and taxing corporations.
Clinton and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, made at least $35 million by giving speeches to financial services, real estate, and insurance companies after leaving the White House in 2001, an Associated Press analysis shows.
Sanders, Clinton’s main rival for the Democratic nomination, has filed legislation that would continue to tax companies involved with inversion deals as American corporations if they remain US-majority owned.
In a New York Times op-ed article published Monday, Clinton pledged to take a tough approach on financial regulation, saying she’d impose a new risk fee on big banks, strengthen oversight, and impose tougher penalties on executives and institutions that break the rules.
‘‘Republicans may have decided to forget about the financial crisis that caused so much devastation — but I haven’t,’’ she wrote. ‘‘The proper role of Wall Street is to help Main Street grow and prosper.’’
Her proposal got the crucial support of Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, a progressive leader on fiscal issues who has remained neutral in the Democratic primary race.
‘‘Secretary Clinton is right to fight back against Republicans trying to sneak Wall Street giveaways into the must-pass government funding bill,’’ wrote Warren on her Facebook page.