For all his threats, Trump is seen by businesses as key ally

[webfact]

For all his threats, Trump is seen by businesses as key ally

By JOSH BOAK

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has lost no chance to bash or threaten individual companies that cross him.

 

Yet much of corporate America appears to view Trump not as an adversary but as a powerful friend. For all his bullying stance toward some companies, businesses have been cheered by his vows to slash taxes and soften Obama-era rules that were designed to protect workers, the environment and the financial system and by his choices to lead the Labor Department and Environmental Protection Agency.

 

The prospect of a stronger economy and richer profits is appealing enough that most businesses — and stock investors — are downplaying the uncertainties that followed Trump's presidential victory last month. The Dow Jones industrial average has rocketed 8 percent to a record high since Election Day on expectations of faster economic growth.

 

Many manufacturers, which have been reeling for years from shrinking demand for their goods, say they view Trump as more sympathetic to their interests than President Barack Obama was.

 

"When he uses the phone, he does it to tell manufacturers that he supports them and wants them to create jobs in the United States," said Jay Timmons, president of the National Association of Manufacturers. "That is a far cry from what we hear in the current administration."

 

The Obama administration helped bail out General Motors and Chrysler and halted a freefall in factory layoffs. But it also issued a series of environmental and labor rules that were designed to limit damage from climate change and raise pay for workers. Business-backed groups argue that such regulations have instead raised costs and depressed hiring.

 

The manufacturers association hosted Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Thursday and met with members of the Trump transition team on Friday. And though Trump has threatened slap a 35 percent tariff on companies that shift factory jobs abroad and then bring goods back to the United States, Timmons said didn't think that would be a priority for the president-elect.

 

"The first order of business is to fix the problems that have made us noncompetitive," Timmons said after meeting with Pence.

 

Organizations representing small businesses, such as franchises for stores and restaurants, are also expressing optimism.

 

"We're incredibly hopeful," said Matt Haller, a spokesman for the International Franchise Association. "We went from an environment where you had certainty but no real hope to an environment where there is definitely some uncertainty but a lot of opportunity."

 

A businessman himself, Trump appears to relish discussions with corporate leaders. During a speech Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa, he recounted private phone conversations he had with top executives.

 

"I actually love calling these companies," Trump said.

 

It looks like Silicon Valley will get a face-to-face meeting with Trump later this week. The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that many tech executives are expected to meet with Trump in New York including Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc.; and Larry Page, CEO of Google parent Alphabet Inc.

 

What's on the agenda isn't clear, although a major theme for Trump has been criticizing companies that have shipped jobs from the U.S. to other countries. He wants Apple to open its largest factory in the United States.

 

At his behest, Carrier announced it would keep 800 jobs at a plant in Indianapolis, though it would still send hundreds of jobs to Mexico. Trump used the prospect of tax reform to keep that Carrier plant open and later praised the chief executive of its parent company, United Technologies.

 

Last week, Trump talked up the Japanese mogul Masayoshi Son, who after meeting with the president-elect in New York, spotlighted his plan to invest $50 billion and create 50,000 jobs.

 

"He's one of the great men of industry," Trump said as he shook Son's hand in the lobby of Trump Tower before turning his back to go back up the elevator.

 

But in public exchanges on Twitter, Trump has been harsh toward some companies.

 

When he decided that Boeing was charging taxpayers too much for the next Air Force One fleet, he sent an angry tweet last week, briefly upsetting Boeing's stock price.

 

He shamed bearings maker Rexnord for shifting Indiana factory jobs to Mexico, threatening to put retaliatory tariffs on companies that offshore jobs.

 

Several corporate leaders have downplayed Trump's outbursts, suggesting that they were part of a necessary public conversation about jobs that the president-elect has simply jumpstarted. Though unemployment is a low 4.6 percent, the sluggish pace of economic growth and wage gains have left many Americans disgruntled and anxious.

 

"I hope it creates a dialogue on job creation in this country at this level that we haven't seen in a long, long time," Douglas Oberhelman, chief executive of Caterpillar, said in a conference call for the Business Roundtable this week.

 

Oherhelman added that "while some of us may share our turn in the bull's-eye a little bit," businesses would be pleased to have states compete for manufacturing jobs through incentives and the "very aggressive pro-job creation policy" expected from the incoming administration.

 

Trump would cut the federal corporate tax rate to 15 percent from its top marginal rate of 35 percent. He would also let companies bring back their foreign earnings at a discounted tax rate payable over 10 years. His team has committed to generating up to $1 trillion in infrastructure projects over a decade, spurring demand for equipment, raw materials and workers.

 

In a speech Friday, FedEx CEO Fred Smith urged Trump to be more open to trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Trump has pledged to withdraw the United States from the 12-nation pact.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-12-12

[Srikcir]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Trump is seen by businesses as key ally

We can exclude United Techologies and Boeing from that list.

[elgordo38]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

soften Obama-era rules that were designed to protect workers, the environment and the financial system and by his choices to lead the Labor Department and Environmental Protection Agency.

To all the workers of America that voted for Trump "You made your bed now lay in it"

[elgordo38]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Last week, Trump talked up the Japanese mogul Masayoshi Son, who after meeting with the president-elect in New York, spotlighted his plan to invest $50 billion and create 50,000 jobs.

This deal was formulated long before the election. The Donald just stepped into the scene and took a bow. Trumpenomics. 

[ilostmypassword]

I have a quarrel with the headline. Business doesn't regard Trump as an ally. Rather, to them he's Santa Claus.

[elgordo38]

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

We can exclude United Techologies and Boeing from that list.

Boeing is already kneeling and paying homage. They have promised to keep the new Air Force ones on or under budget. They learn fast to recognize the hand that will be feeding them. The same as other big businesses making a U turn from their positions before the elections. Trump is feeding the pigeons in the park and they are gobbling it up. 

[elgordo38]

2 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

I have a quarrel with the headline. Business doesn't regard Trump as an ally. Rather, to them he's Santa Claus.

If your a worker in America or a poor person watch out for a Scrooge dressed in a red suit with orange hair. 

[Srikcir]

1 minute ago, elgordo38 said:

They have promised to keep the new Air Force ones on or under budget.

They don't have to promise - it's in their contracts that are audited by the Defense Contract Agency and monitored by the Secretary of Defense.

 

One problem is that Trump doesn't understand the government procurement system when it involves new and/or technology development as is the case with the next generation Air Force One. Often the specifications are altered as the technology is refined with projected performance and manufacturing requirements also requiring changes. The changes in the design process can cause a cost ripple effect that was never anticipated in producing the final product. As a consequence design contractors are very conservative with their budgets and will swiftly renegotiate and cost overruns that might result from government mandated changes.

 

So far as Trump threatening to deny any American company from future contracts based on a personal cause, he does not have the legal authority as POTUS to do so.

[Johpa]

 
Many manufacturers, which have been reeling for years from shrinking demand for their goods, say they view Trump as more sympathetic to their interests than President Barack Obama was.
 

I am still awaiting an explanation from the neoliberal clan as to exactly how a reduction in taxes to the 1% results in an increase in aggregate demand for goods and services from the remaining 99%. Either they are simply delusional, or just stupid, or just pulling the wool over the eyes of the economic journalists who promote this nonsense.


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[lannarebirth]

34 minutes ago, Johpa said:

 

I am still awaiting an explanation from the neoliberal clan as to exactly how a reduction in taxes to the 1% results in an increase in aggregate demand for goods and services from the remaining 99%. Either they are simply delusional, or just stupid, or just pulling the wool over the eyes of the economic journalists who promote this nonsense.


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It's not but they're going to make up the deficit by cutting the inheritance tax for estates over $10 millon.

[elgordo38]

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

One problem is that Trump doesn't understand the government procurement system when it involves new and/or technology development as is the case with the next generation Air Force One.

You make a good point but being president Trump rather trumps part of your argument. They do not wish to get caught in the middle of a twitter twaddle war. A good comparison is while Nero fiddled Rome was burning. Replace the fiddling with tweeting. 

[Kiwiken]

2 hours ago, elgordo38 said:

To all the workers of America that voted for Trump "You made your bed now lay in it"

Exactly the only way you can US workers competitive is to deregulate the Labor market . Drive down wages and conditions. Welcome to the promised land 

[elgordo38]

2 hours ago, Srikcir said:

based on a personal cause, he does not have the legal authority as POTUS to do so.

Its a great statement but legal authority is being stretched to almost the breaking point. Being legal is no longer black and white as in the past today is a whole different ball game its full of grey left open to interpretation grey areas. The guy wearing the crown holding the scepter usually wins. 

[Srikcir]

2 hours ago, elgordo38 said:

To all the workers of America that voted for Trump "You made your bed now lay in it"

And they're getting a possible Secretary of Labor who is anti-labor!

A recent analysis by Bloomberg found that fast-food joints like Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. that operate on the franchise model are often found to have broken the law. Wage-and-hour officials found violations about 60 percent of the time that they investigated those two chains, according to Bloomberg. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-considering-fast-food-ceo-for-labor-secretary-report_us_5845b436e4b028b323389199

 

Pudzer will be good for business owners, but not for business workers. And the Department of Labor will reflect that viewpoint with disregard to the very laws it is supposed to support.

[Johpa]

Exactly the only way you can US workers competitive is to deregulate the Labor market . Drive down wages and conditions. Welcome to the promised land 

Well that is the whole point of "Globalism".


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[ilostmypassword]

2 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

 

It's not but they're going to make up the deficit by cutting the inheritance tax for estates over $10 millon.

Actually, they're not going to cut it; they're going to eliminate it.  

[Kiwiken]

58 minutes ago, Johpa said:

 

Well that is the whole point of "Globalism".


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No it is more reflective of Isolationsm