Former Commerce Secretary of the United States, Wilbur Ross joining us right now, who serve in the Trump administration. Prior to that, he ran W L. Ross and continues as Chairman, president and CEO of Ross Acquisition Corps. Mister Secretary, Great to have you here on the program. Kind of fitting that the G seven is talking about a lot of those tariffs, tariffs that originated not only from the Trump administration,
but specifically from your department as well. We now have an ability to look back over the last seven eight years. Have those tariffs been effective?
Oh? I think they definitely have been in several regards. One let everybody know that the President was serious about fixing the balance of payments problem, and two that he was willing to break with the tradition that prior presidents had set up. So I think these president tariffs that President Biden is putting in well really just an extension
of the thinking that we had before. The auto vehicle tariff on electric vehicles, for example, we started and in those days there weren't even any electric vehicles sold to the US from China, and so it was easy to get it into the agreement because it didn't hurt there. Then exports, but it set the pattern, and I think this is what's now being followed through.
There's been a big question as to what, if anything, gets us to the point in our relationship with China where maybe those tarrets could either be reduced or even eliminated. How do you feel about the progress of our relationship with the Chinese and whether we are going to get to a point where it is more amicable.
Well, I don't think there's ever been proof that running a big trade deficit with another country makes them a true ally. I think that's one of the many fictions that the so called free trade people had prompted over the years. I think that it's essential that Biden took the steps that he has taken. I wonder a little bit why it took three and a half years to get there, because China has been ramping up the ebs
for quite a while. But at least he's now doing it, and I think that's good and it's consistent with trying to create a better climate situation. But to do it without hurting our balance of payments Secretary Ross.
President Trump floated lawmakers today higher tariffs in exchange for lower taxes. Does that make logical sense, or does that create a different economic problem.
Well, remember, tariffs go into the federal budget as receipts every bit as much as taxes do, so in an arithmetic sense, it's clearly correct that one could very well offset the other. Prison Trump has always liked the idea of tariffs as a revenue source, and that's why he went with the idea of tariffs on products from day one, rather than having quotas and if the country exceeds those quotas,
then putting in the tariffs. So he reviews it and has viewed it partly as a revenue measure, but more than that, it's to make a fair arrangement between the countries.
As a secretary, there seems to be a lot of questions, now, is a Trump two point zero economic plan? Is that inflationary? When we talk about tariffs, And there's a lot of debate as to whether or not tariffs are inflationary or not. But there's reduced immigration, which you could argue shrinks the workforce, renewed tax cuts with more fiscal stimulus, and the questions about fed independence.
What say you, Well, that's a whole lot of questions fall in one question. So I'll try to answer them one by one. Go back to the Trump years. There was no big runaway inflation. So the idea that the tariffs that we put in were somehow going to hurt the working people charge them too much for goods proved to be incorrect, despite the fact that we had unemployment down below the four percent level. So there is no
evidence that the Trump tariffs really were inflationary. And second, the reason for that is to some extent the other countries absorb it themselves, that either the exporters or in some cases the governments there providing them with subsidies. So it's just not the same thing as the naysayers had anticipated. That's not what the record shows.
That's the second.
Then I think your other question was about what does that do to relationships. It seems to me that we've done at least as much damage and relationship by constantly provoking China, with Taiwan and with some of the other
actions that the government has taken. This administration's policy toward China and frankly toward a lot of other countries has been a little bit schizophrenic in that, on the one hand, he sends Janet Yaleen he sends Anthony Blincoln, sends all kinds of people over there to negotiate, and then he keeps attacking them verbally. I think a better solution would be Teddy Roosevelt's solution, speak softly and carry a big stick, rather than speak loudly and carry a little stick.
Okay, are so I'm curious, mister a secretary, are you still advising Donald Trump and his campaign and his potential candidacy here for president?
Well, I'd certainly have been supporting him, both in terms of my endorsement quite a few months ago and in terms of monetary contribution. So yes, I'm very much in favor of his reelection.
There's a meeting that was taking place earlier today in Washington. The Business Roundtable hosted it. I know these meetings are pretty standard during campaigns, they meet with both of other major party candidates. Today was Trump's turn here. What is the message that you would want the business community to hear out of this Trump campaign as they decide what the outcome might actually be?
Okay? Well, first of all, quite a few senior businesspeople are in fact supporting Trump. A number of them formerly had been much more in the free trade camp. Than they are now because they've seen the actual results of the Trump policies and they've seen the Chinese government and others taking more control role of the private sector, and that is worrisome to them. You probably saw that some of them are moving big facilities to India, and others are moving them to Vietnam, and quite a few are
moving them to Mexico. Yeah, so they're still looking for low cost production, but they're being weaned a little bit of the idea that you can have a really complicated and really elongated supply chain.
Secretary one last question. Bill Gross, legendary bond King wrote in an op ed in the Ft and he said that Trump is the more bearish of the candidates for treasuries is what he meant, simply because his programs advocate continued tax cuts and more expensive things. Both candidates, the idea are going to be negative for the fiscal deficit. Budget deficit we can need to rise, but Trump will be worse.
What do you say to that.
Well, I don't that's mister Gross's opinion. But the truth is that deficits are running very, very high under President Biden. The difference is that these measures, these expensures to the public are putting money into the pockets for the most part of people not working, as opposed to creating jobs for them to fill. And I think that's part of the reason why inflation has been as sticky as it is.
And as you know, the Federal Reserve just decided not to make a cut because of worries about continued inflation. I think it's inherently more inflationary to put out money from the government that does not go to productive use than it is to put out money that goes to productive use. So I would argue that the inflationary precious are much more likely to be severe under President Biden than they would be under President Trump.
All right, mister Secretary, have to leave it there. I appreciate you taking time for us while we're ross there at the former US Secretary of Commerce