Wilbur Ross sees 1% GDP jump

Joshua Roberts | Reuters

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross speaks at 2017 SelectUSA Investment Summit in Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S., June 19, 2017.

The United States will see its gross domestic product rise by 1 percent if the government can get tax reform “right,” according to the commerce secretary.

Getting U.S. tax reform right is important, because it could add nearly $3 trillion in federal government revenue in the next decade, Wilbur Ross said on Wednesday.

Beyond the federal budget and the lifting of the debt ceiling, the tax program is the “single-most important thing,” Ross told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Effective tax reform will “increase the gross domestic product growth by 1 percentage point, so 100 basis points,” he said, adding that in 10 years, that would amount to “$10 trillion more GDP, $3 trillion more revenues to the federal government.”

“Those are gigantic numbers even for a country the size of the U.S.,” he said, “so the tax changes could be transformative events.”

Passing a comprehensive tax reform, one of President Donald Trump’s key campaign promises, is a crucial focal point for the Administration, particularly following the repeated failures to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Trump on Tuesday said that the Republican tax reform plan will include a near doubling of the standard deduction for both individuals and families.

Within moments of his remarks, reports emerged that the Republican proposal will raise the standard individual deduction to $12,000 from its current rate of $6,350, and the deduction for a married couple to $24,000, up from $12,700.

— CNBC’s Christina Wilkie contributed to this report.