Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Tuesday, April 6th, and this is your FT News Briefing.

The US is calling for a global minimum tax for corporations,

and we'll look at the bond investors who took huge risks at the outset of the pandemic,

we're now seeing the payoff. Plus, the global shortage of semiconductors has put the spotlight

on a little known, but extremely important group that is dominating chip production.

In the light of global supply chain, realignment, other governments also thinking about,

do we need reshore chip production ourselves? We'll take a look at perhaps the most important

company you've never heard of. I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day.

This week, global leaders are gathering virtually for the annual spring meetings of the

International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. And as things were getting started yesterday,

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen floated this big idea. Together, we can use a global

minimum tax to make sure the global economy thrives based on a more level playing field

in the taxation of multinational corporations. A global minimum corporate tax.

Now, this proposal also comes as President Joe Biden wants an increase to the US corporate

tax rate from 21% to 28%. He wants us to pay for his multi-trillion dollar infrastructure plan.

The FT's Washington Bureau Chief James Pleady says a global minimum corporate tax would set a

level that multinationals would have to abide by. I think the big question is who is going to agree

to it, what the level is going to be, and will it be effective enough at stopping what we've seen

as the sort of pervasive use of tax havens and low tax jurisdictions to avoid sort of hefty

tax bills? So James, US companies are complaining that higher US taxes will make them less competitive

globally. Is the proposal that Yellen laid out yesterday aimed at addressing this?

Well, so it aims to stop sort of race to the bottom internationally. So it aims to create a system

...