Durbin warns agriculture firm on tax deal

The Senate’s No. 2 Democrat is warning a major U.S. agriculture company to think twice about moving its legal address offshore.

Minority Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) told Monsanto that it’s in the company’s best interest to remain headquartered in the U.S., and noted that the company has had no problems capitalizing on taxpayer funding.

{mosads}Monsanto has approached Syngenta, a Swiss competitor, about a merger that would create an giant among the agriculture industry, according to media reports.

That sort of move would also allow Monsanto, which is currently based in St. Louis, to shift its headquarters abroad, slashing its tax bill in the process. Durbin and other Democrats have vocally protested those deals, which are known as corporate inversions.

“You and your board must recognize that your company’s continued commitment to America would be good, not only for the country, but also for MonsantoCompany’s bottom line,” Durbin said.

The Illinois Democrat specifically mentioned Monsanto’s reliance on National Institutes of Health research, the U.S. education system and the patent protections offered by the federal government.

The Treasury Department unveiled new rules last year to make the offshore tax deals less economically appealing. But the Obama administration has said the only way to truly battle inversions is through tough protections in tax reform. Some top Republicans have said that the U.S. needs to make its tax system more business-friendly to reduce incentives for inversions.