News & Insights

Washington D.C. – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today released results from its annual Tax Treaty Survey. The survey, which was answered by tax professionals from NFTC member companies, asked businesses to rate their tax treaty priorities around the world.

“Tax treaties are essential for U.S. businesses, and we are thankful that Treasury is already working on advancing some of these priorities,” said Anne Gordon, NFTC Vice President for International Tax Policy. “Expanding the U.S. Treaty network and ensuring that treaties that are in place are working as intended are both critical. We encourage Treasury to continue this work and to focus on the concerns and countries highlighted in this survey.”

Highlights of this year’s survey include:

• Switzerland once again topped the list, being identified as a top priority most often by respondents. Withholding tax rates on Dividends were, by far, the most important tax treaty negotiation item, followed by Limitation on Benefits (“LoB”) and withholding tax rates on Interest.
• Brazil was identified as a top priority second most often by respondents, who cited that withholding rates on Royalties and Dividends were their top priorities in the country.
• The next tranche of countries listed as a top priority for respondents consisted of Canada and Taiwan, and the final tranche included Hungary, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom.
• Switzerland followed by Brazil also received the overall highest number of votes.
• In total, respondents requested negotiations with 25 countries.

Read the full results of the 2026 Tax Treaty Survey here.

An infographic of the survey results can be found here.

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About the NFTC
The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) is the premier business association advancing trade, tax, national security, and supply chain policies that support access to the global marketplace. Founded in 1914, NFTC promotes an open, rules-based global economy on behalf of a diverse membership of U.S.-based businesses, who account for over $6 trillion in revenue and employ nearly 6 million people in the United States.