President Barack Obama has proposed a lower corporate tax rate and an end to dozens of loopholes he said helps US companies move jobs and profits overseas.

"It's not right and it needs to change," he said.

The president wants to lower the US corporate tax rate from the current 35 per cent, the highest in the world after Japan. Under his plan, manufacturers would receive incentives so that their effective tax rate could be even lower.

Obama's election-year plan would set a new 28 per cent corporate tax rate, still higher than the 25pc rate sought by congressional Republicans.

"It's a framework that lowers the corporate tax rate and broadens the tax base in order to increase competitiveness for companies across the nation," Obama said in a statement.

Corporations would have to give up dozens of cherished loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy. Corporations with overseas operations would also face an unspecified minimum tax on their foreign earnings.