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President Obama called Thursday for an urgent end to a tax loophole that allows American companies to shift to a foreign address and lower their tax bill.聽

Because the loophole is legal, Mr. Obama appealed to 鈥渆conomic patriotism鈥� to get companies to stop using it. And he called for quick passage of a law to halt the growing practice, separate from a larger reform of the corporate tax system. Under Obama鈥檚 proposal, the ban would be retroactive to May 2014.

The technique, called 鈥渃orporate inversion,鈥� involves an American company taking over a foreign firm and reincorporating in that country, allowing the corporate parent to avoid US taxes on foreign-earned profits. So far this year, nine US companies have undergone inversion, and the pace is picking up. This month alone, two US drugmakers, AbbVie and Mylan, have begun the process. In March, banana king Chiquita took over the Irish company Fyffes and is reincorporating in Dublin.

鈥淵ou know, some people are calling these companies 鈥榗orporate deserters,鈥� 鈥� Obama said in a speech on skills training at Los Angeles Trade Technical College.

The president acknowledged that these techniques for tax avoidance are legal, but said they鈥檙e still wrong 鈥� and hurting the country.

鈥淓conomic patriotism says it鈥檚 a good thing when we close wasteful tax loopholes and invest in education, and invest in job training that helps the economy for everybody,鈥� said Obama, speaking on the final day of a three-day trip to the West Coast that included six fundraisers.

The Obama administration wants to close the loophole in stand-alone legislation. Under the Democratic legislation Obama supports, any company that does half of its business in the United States would be deemed 鈥淯S-domiciled.鈥� Republicans want to address the matter as part of a larger overhaul of the corporate tax code and showed little sympathy for Obama鈥檚 plea Thursday.

鈥淯nder President Obama, the United States has the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world,鈥� said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R) of Ohio, in a statement. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 have to be that way: comprehensive tax reform would reduce deductions and lower tax rates for everyone. But until the White House endorses our tax reform plan or convinces Senate Democrats to act, every pink slip from companies moving overseas may as well be signed, 鈥楶resident Barack H. Obama.鈥� 鈥�

Obama鈥檚 proposal to end corporate inversions isn鈥檛 new. It鈥檚 in his fiscal 2015 budget released earlier this year. On July 15, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew sent a letter to the leaders of the congressional tax-writing committees, calling on lawmakers to 鈥渟hut down this abuse of our tax system."

But less than four months before the November midterm elections, there鈥檚 a heavy political tinge to both Obama鈥檚 plea and the Republican response. Analysts see the chances of congressional action as slim to none.

Thus, the call to economic patriotism. A senior White House official said that companies that 鈥渋nvert鈥� are still taking advantage of the services and benefits of being in the US, and therefore should pay for them through taxes.

鈥淣ow they are going to be funded by someone else鈥檚 taxes,鈥� said the official, speaking to reporters before Obama鈥檚 speech. 鈥淭hose companies still have access to our markets, to our infrastructure, and the education system that helps train our workers.鈥�

Closing the loophole would save the US $17 billion over 10 years, the Obama administration estimates.

鈥淭hat $17 billion is potentially savings for individuals, it鈥檚 savings for other businesses who have to make up for the lost revenue when they stay here in the United States, or it鈥檚 savings in terms of our budget deficit and the consequences that would have for our economy,鈥� the White House official said.

The official added that there鈥檚 鈥渘othing wrong鈥� with cross-border mergers that are justified by economic efficiency.

鈥淲e recognize that it鈥檚 a global economy: You鈥檒l have US companies that invest abroad and you鈥檒l have foreign companies that invest in the United States, and we welcome that,鈥� the official said. But the problem comes when companies do mergers just for tax reasons, the official added.

Critics of Obama say corporations that invert are behaving in their own interests, and that the answer is to lower the corporate tax rate.

鈥淪lashing the rate would stop 鈥榠nversions,鈥� encourage business formation in the United States, and increase tax revenue through other taxes such as sales, income, and even property,鈥� writes Ross Kaminsky, a senior fellow of the Heartland Institute in Chicago, in The American Spectator.