Biden set for G-7 boost in bid for all nations to impose minimum global corporate tax

WASHINGTON - Finance ministers from Group of Seven nations meeting in London on Friday are expected to back President Joe Biden's call for a global minimum tax on corporate profits, giving him an early win in a grueling diplomatic campaign that is just beginning.

The new minimum tax, one half of a two-pronged global reform effort, is designed to halt a cycle of corporate tax-cutting that has sapped government revenue around the globe. As part of a package deal, negotiators are also wrestling with European demands to tax American technology giants such as Google and Facebook, which earn substantial revenue in countries where they have little physical presence. Biden catalyzed the global tax debate this month by lowering to 15% from 21% his proposed worldwide minimum. If he can secure agreement from the world's leading democracies - en route to a broader global consensus later this year - it could eventually produce the most significant global tax shift in decades.