Timothy Geithner

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the current business tax system is bad for business and for job creation and says a plan by President Barack Obama to reduce corporate tax rates would make the tax system more globally competitive.

The Obama administration is proposing to lower the corporate tax rate from 35 to 28 percent. Manufacturers would receive incentives so that their effective tax rate would be 25 percent.

The proposal outlined by Geithner Wednesday would also eliminate tax loopholes and subsidies that Geithner called "fundamentally unfair."

Obama also would set a minimum tax on the foreign earning of U.S. companies.

Geithner said the plan would be part of a larger effort to overhaul the U.S. tax system. He said a long-term growth strategy for the United States requires tax reform.