Trump Taps Ross for Commerce Secretary, Mnuchin for Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin and Wilbur Ross confirmed that President-elect Donald Trump selected them to serve as treasury secretary and commerce secretary, respectively, during a CNBC interview (here). After Trump’s campaign threats to raise tariffs on Chinese goods raised some uncertainty in the trade community, Ross indicated that tariffs would be a last resort in Trump administration trade negotiations. “The real trick is going to be [to] increase American exports,” Ross said. “Get rid of some of the tariff and nontariff barriers to American exports.” Mnuchin and Ross called the Trans-Pacific Partnership a bad deal, and Mnuchin emphasized the focus on bilateral, as opposed to multilateral, deals that the soon-to-be Trump administration will take. “The problem with regional trade agreements is you get picked apart by the first country,” Ross said. “Then you negotiate [with] . . . the second country. You get picked apart. And you go with the third one. You get picked apart again. What has to be put into perspective, we are the big market. We are the world's biggest importer. We need to treat the other countries as good suppliers, not as determining the whole show.”
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Ross hailed Carrier’s announcement that it will keep almost 1,000 jobs it had previously intended to outsource to Mexico as a “trade victory before we’ve even come into office,” the transcript says. Carrier tweeted on Nov. 29 that it reached a deal with Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence to keep those jobs in Indianapolis (here). A former Goldman Sachs partner and film producer, Mnuchin during the interview credited Trump with calling United Technologies, Carrier’s parent company, emphasizing the importance of maintaining those U.S. jobs. Ross said part of Carrier’s initial decision to move jobs to Mexico had to do with 44 treaties between that country and others that enable Mexico to accommodate international shipping better than the U.S., and Ross pledged to “fix” what he indicated is a lacking U.S. international shipping posture.
National Association of Manufacturers CEO Jay Timmons praised Trump’s selection of Ross in an emailed statement, saying the billionaire investor known for making bankrupt companies profitable will bring a “unique understanding” of how to drive manufacturing industries. “To raise wages, put more people to work and out-innovate the rest of the world, manufacturers in America need fairer taxes and sane regulations as well as expanded trade and strong trade enforcement,” Timmons said.