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FedEx CEO hammers Trump's trade proposals for China, Canada and Mexico
FEDEX CEO Fred Smith has sharply criticised the foreign policy of US President-elect Donald Trump, warning that he should be very careful in managing the nation's relationship with China and claiming that scrapping the NAFTA trade agreement with Canada and Mexico would be "catastrophic for the US economy," reported Fortune.com.
Speaking at the National Competitiveness Forum, an annual gathering of industrial CEOs and corporate executives, Mr Smith said NAFTA makes the US US$127 billion richer each year and is the basis for 14 million American jobs. Free trade is "absolutely essential to American prosperity," he added.
On China, Mr Smith allowed that China, and Asian economies in general, have not opened their markets to trade as much as the US. What's more, they are much more inclined to engage in industrial policy like subsidising business and currency manipulation that increases the US trade deficit and potentially costs American jobs.
At the same time, Mr Smith argued that a Trump policy administration's top priority should be to "avoid a downward spiral in economic and commercial relations that would harm millions of people."
There are two important takeaways from the speech. First, it shows that the corporate establishment is going to take a hardline on issues like NAFTA; secondly, his comments on China shows that there is some wiggle room to find support for a tougher stance on trade relations with the world's second largest economy.
Speaking at the National Competitiveness Forum, an annual gathering of industrial CEOs and corporate executives, Mr Smith said NAFTA makes the US US$127 billion richer each year and is the basis for 14 million American jobs. Free trade is "absolutely essential to American prosperity," he added.
On China, Mr Smith allowed that China, and Asian economies in general, have not opened their markets to trade as much as the US. What's more, they are much more inclined to engage in industrial policy like subsidising business and currency manipulation that increases the US trade deficit and potentially costs American jobs.
At the same time, Mr Smith argued that a Trump policy administration's top priority should be to "avoid a downward spiral in economic and commercial relations that would harm millions of people."
There are two important takeaways from the speech. First, it shows that the corporate establishment is going to take a hardline on issues like NAFTA; secondly, his comments on China shows that there is some wiggle room to find support for a tougher stance on trade relations with the world's second largest economy.
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