The Biden administration appearing to declare victory on inflation.
We have seen some turnaround in sentiment in recent months. The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index has moved up quite a lot. Inflation is now near term at close to the lowest levels we've seen in that survey. So I think Americans do believe inflations under control.
Secretary Yeah of making the case for a self landing as fourth quarter GDP tops estimates and inflation continues to call, I'm pleased to say joining us this program exclusively the US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally at Amo, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wander for to catch up with you against sir and to have a longer conversation about the US economy. Was that a declaration of victory on inflation yesterday?
So I was listening to the show before I came on, and you talked about all the people who have changed their mind. So the truth is, Secretary Yellen, it's been consistent. If you go back a year ago, she made very clear that we could grow the economy, bring down inflation, and keep a tight labor market. And that's exactly what we're doing. What she was saying yesterday was that we have seen progress made in terms of making sure that the middle class has more money to spend at the
end of the month. Because gas prices are down a dollar ninety. We know that there's more that we need to do in terms of trying to make sure that we put more pocket in the more money in the pockets of the middle class in America. And that's exactly what the President of the Secretary committed to doing. We're not declaring victory. Rather, we're saying we've made progress and we're going to continue to make that progress going forward.
Deputy Secretary, why do you think there is such a huge gap between the sentiment and the economic indicators that seem to be making a really positive case for the economy.
I think the most important thing we have to continue to remember, and I just came back from a trip literally around the world, is that people are still impacted by the pandemic and the ways that it impacted their lives. But the thing we have going for us in the United States is that because of the work that our businesses have done, the American people have done, we're better
positioned as an economy to deal with that. You think about the investments we made in things like the Advanced Child Tax Credit, which gave the American families tax relief in the midst of the pandemic, and the relief that we gave to small businesses. And today we've seen sixteen million applications for new small businesses in America. We're seeing progress.
But what I know that has happened to the American people, but people around the world, is that the pandemic had an impact that has in lots of ways still continuing. But our economy is better positioned today than any economy of a major of major country around the world because of the decisions and choices the President and the Secretary have made and our goals to make sure that we continue from that position of strength to invest in the American economy.
Debut. Secretary, you're talking about getting more dollars in people's pockets, and we heard Janet Yellen, a Treasure Secretary, yesterday, talking about the potential for prolonging some of the tax cuts for people making less than four hundred thousand dollars a year. How concerned are you the getting additional dollars in people's pockets will just fuel another round of inflation, which really gave people a lot of the negativity to start with.
I think the most important thing that we should look at is one of the biggest drivers of the inflationary I pressions we saw in our economy was on the supply side. Supply chains were snarled, and you've see in a huge decrease in supply chain challenges in the economy. Energy is a great place to start. Just look at what we've seen in terms of the dollar nine dy reduction in the cost of gas, but throughout our supply chains, we've seen them improved to put us in a better
position to meet the demand in the economy. And it's important to remember what the Secretary said for the middle class,
we're not going to increase their taxes. We're going to look for ways to provide relief to families, but we're also going to look to modestly increase taxes on the wealthy, on large corporations, because the Secretary and the President believe that over the medium term, we need to make sure that we have a fiscally sustainable outlook, which is very different than the last administration.
Well, you just got back from Japan, and I understand that Syphius is still under review for Japan's takeover of US Steel. We have the Prime Minister of Japan joining US for a state dinner upcoming in April. Will we get a decision on this soon?
So, as you know, we don't talk about any syfious cases if they exist or if they don't publicly, it's a private it's a private matter. If there's a CFIUS case. What I can say is that CIFIUS is a process of been set up to look at national security risk and make sure that we in the United States, as we support foreign direct investment in the United States, we're also very mindful of the national security risk that some
foreign direct investment presents. Stepping away from a specific case, one of the things that we believe deeply in is the importance of a yawn of strong US steel industry. That's why we've made investments like the Inflation Reduction Act and the investments that we've made in rebuilding our infrastructure. And ultimately, what we want to see is more companies like US Steel in the United States that have union workers or paid a good living wage. And that's exactly
why we're making the investments we're making. The US economy today.
But I'm looking at your readout and it says the Deputy Secretary thanked his government counterparts for Japan's leadership. How is this the national security concern when it's one of the United States strongest allies in the Asia Pacific.
So, as I said, I'm not able to talk about whether there is a case or isn't their case when it comes to pacipious process is one that will work through and take some time, and I expect that any Sofia's case that comes through will be treated in a manner that's consistent with the law. And ultimately, Congress passed the law that gave Sophius certain authorities, and we plan to do our jobs in terms of reviewing the national security risk of any transaction that comes a Forsyphius. One of the.
Policies you were discussing, of course, in Japan, was the future of what is going on with Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Where are you in the status of talks with your partners about Russia's assets. Do you see a legal path forward with Russia's stranded assets to give them to Ukraine?
Samory, As you mentioned, one of the topics of conversation amongst the G seven and our coalition more broadly, is how we make sure that Russia compensates Ukraine for the damage they've done to their economy. Our leaders at the beginning of the war immobilized Russia's sovereign assets that were held in our countries so Putin couldn't use them to fund his illegal war. Now they've said very clearly that Putin is not getting back those assets until he pays
for the damage that's been done in Ukraine. And they've asked US experts amongst the G seven to think about what we can do to try and compensate the Ukrainians for the damage that's been done in Europe. They're talking about things like windfall profit taxes, for debating a number of other ideas, with the idea being that ultimately we need to make sure that Russia is the one that pays to help rebuild Ukraine in order to make sure they have a thriving economy as well as a thriving democracy.
Deputy Secretary, appreciate your time this morning. I just wanted to squeeze in one further question actually about trade. The former president is on the campaign trail talking at the potential of a blanket ten percent tariffs on imports since the United States this administration has maintained tariffs on China from the previous administration. What is your position on that now?
So, I think the blanket ten percent tariff that isn't well targeted would hurt the American people. And what we've done instead of looking to simply do blanket tariffs is try to work with our allies and partners to hold China accountable for the things that they are doing that violate trade rules going forward, because ultimately, what we know is that the best way to make sure that China lives by the rules of the road that we've all set is by doing that with our allies and partners
rather than taking a go at loan approach. That's exactly what the President's going to continue to do.
Do you think the US car manufacturers can compete with Chinese automakers without those tariffs.
I think the US car manufacturers can compete with anyone in the world if they're playing on a level playing field. And the problem today for them is that in China there are subsidies that are being given to not only Carcum, but throughout the ecosystem that are making the possible to
produce cars that are lost leaders. And ultimately the reason that in the United States but also in Europe people are concerned about Chinese vehicles flooding the market is because they're being produced in ways that violate basic trade rules, and it's why we're looking all at our options here. But I know that Europe is also looking at their options to ensure that we don't end up in a place where Chinese over capacity floods our markets.
What did those options look like, sir.
Well, I'm not going to get into them with you here, but we're having serious conversations with our allies and partners to ensure that we're in a position to make sure that our companies are able to compete on a level playing field.
That's why we do those interviews, Wally, we try and make it happen. Well, you appreciate your time that the US Deputy Treasury Secretary