Trump a Davos: "Come produce in the United States, or pay the duties"

“Come and produce in the United States or pay the duties“. The message is clear Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum. Tariffs have been a topic of debate in discussion panels in recent days: quite a few economists, including the director general of the WTO, they expressed fear of the escalation of a trade war with tariffs.

And the new president of the United States explains why he wants to go in this direction: “My message is simple: come and produce your products in the United States and you will benefit from some of the lowest taxes in the world. But if they don’t produce them in the United States, and this is their right, then they will simply have to pay tariffs,” he said. Trump’s speech – he last spoke to the WEF audience in January 2020 – touched on several themes , from oil, to interest rates, to the tax system, to the war in Ukraine.

The good news for businesses is that the president means it cut the corporate tax from 21 to 15%, as long as they are produced in the United States. “We will make the largest tax cut in the history of the United States,” Trump promised, adding: “Under my administration, there will be no better place on earth to create jobs and build factories than here in the good old USA.”

No contrast with the Old Continent Trump is keen to reiterate it: “I try to be constructive because I love Europe, I love European countries, but they treat the United States of America very, very unfairly with the VAT taxes and all the other taxes that they impose “. In this regard, he defends American companies: “Europe has led the way lawsuits with Apple, and he brought 15 or 16 billion from Apple, another billion from Google, I think he’s looking for the same with Facebook for billions and billions. These are American companies, Europe should not “do this, and as far as I’m concerned, it is a form of taxation so we have some big complaints with the EU.”

The president also hopes for a drop in the price of oil (and while he says this the WTI, the American barrel, loses 1%) and anticipates that he will talk about it with OPEC and Saudi Arabia: “I will tell them that they have to lower it, which, frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t do before the election. It was very nice of them not to do that.”

According to Trump, Kiev is ready for an agreement and for its part, “I would like to meet Putin soon”.

And to put an end to this “horrible” clash, he asks Beijing for an assist: “I’ve always had it a great relationship with Xi – he says – even if “marred by the Covid that came from Wuhan”, and “I hope it helps us stop the war”.

Returning to economic topics, while it is scheduled (next week) the Fed board which according to forecasts should keep interest rates unchanged, the American president anticipates that he will instead ask to cut them “immediately” and “in the same way – he states – they should fall throughout the world. Interest rates should follow us everywhere”. It’s not the first time Trump urges Fed policymakers to reduce the cost of borrowing and in recent years, there has been no shortage of sparks with the central banker. There are those who believe that today’s intervention opens a new – but already read – chapter.