WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Honeywell, the U.S. industrial conglomerate, said Friday it would bring back seven billion U.S. dollars of overseas earnings in next two years due to the newly enacted U.S. tax reform.

The company said it would use the repatriated money for acquisitions and share buybacks. "This new global mobility of our cash will allow us to...more aggressively seek out M&A," said Chief Financial Officer Tom Szlosek.

Before the new tax law, U.S. companies were subject to tax on all profits, including domestic and overseas earnings. Companies had to pay income tax when they brought the profits back to the United States.

Therefore, most companies chose to hoard profits overseas to avoid the tax. It's estimated that more than 2.6 trillion U.S. dollars of corporate profits have been sitting in foreign bank accounts.

The new tax law allows U.S. companies to repatriate profits at reduced rates. Since the passing of the new law, U.S. companies have been rushing to repatriate overseas profits.

Apple said on Jan. 17 that it would pay 38 billion dollars for a one-time tax payment to repatriate its cash holdings. JP Morgan also said it would pay 2.4 billion-dollar tax for its overseas cash.