- Donald Trump took the stage virtually at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.
- He made a series of promises and threats about corporate tax rates, tariffs, and more.
- He also criticized Europe over its lawsuits against Meta and Google.
President Donald Trump is back, and he’s making sure the whole world knows it.
Trump’s virtual appearance at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, was full of promises, as well as threats directed at CEOs, banks, and Europe more broadly.
Trump said his message to businesses worldwide was simple: build in America or pay up.
“If you don’t make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then very simply, you will have to pay a tariff,” he said.
The president has threatened a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico, which he said could begin as early as February 1, along with the 60% tariff on China he proposed during the campaign.
Trump said he hopes the tariffs will incentivize both domestic and foreign companies to manufacture goods in the United States because “other nations take advantage of the US.” He also sees tariffs as a means to pay down the national debt, lower inflation, and create jobs.
“Under the Trump Administration, there will be no better place on earth to create jobs or build factories than right here in the USA,” Trump said.
Still, some economists have previously told BI that tariffs on goods like cars, food products, and medicine could raise prices for Americans.
For those companies that do end up moving production to US shores, Trump offered a bottom-dollar tax deal of 15%, which he described as the lowest rate of any large country.
“My message to every business in the world is very simple: make your product in America,” Trump said. “We will do the low taxes. We’re bringing them down very substantially even from the original Trump tax cuts.”
In renegotiating trade deals with China and the EU, Trump said he’s not looking for “phenomenal,” just “fair.”
He also criticized the EU’s regulatory enforcement actions against tech giants like Apple, Google, and Facebook (who were major donors to his inauguration and whose CEOs were prominent guests), saying the fines are a form of unfair taxation.
“Whether you like them or not, they’re American companies, and they shouldn’t be doing that,” he said.
Brian Moynihan, the CEO of Bank of America, asked about how his administration would balance his many executive orders with continuing GDP growth and bringing inflation down.
“I think it’s going to actually bring down inflation. It’s going to bring up jobs,” Trump responded, adding he would work to bring down the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15% if companies make their products in the United States.
“The 15% is about as low as it gets and by far the lowest of a large country,” Trump said, adding it would “create a tremendous buzz.” He added that he brought the corporate tax rate down from 40% to 21% in his first term.
Trump also said the country will likely return to the one-year deduction if and when the Trump tax plan is approved.
“If the Democrats didn’t approve it, I don’t know how they can survive with about a 45% tax increase because that’s what it would be,” he said.
The president also called out the Bank of America CEO, accusing his bank of discriminating against conservatives. Trump said he hopes Moynihan starts “opening your bank to conservatives,” saying he’s heard conservatives complain that Bank of America and other banks “don’t take conservative business.”
“I hope you’re going to open your banks to conservatives because what you’re doing is wrong,” Trump said.
The president also thanked Saudi Arabia for its announcement it would invest $600 billion in the United States, but said he’d ask for more.
“It’s also reported today in the papers that Saudi Arabia will be investing at least $600 billion in America. But I’ll be asking the Crown Prince, who’s a fantastic guy, to round it out to around $1 trillion. I think they’ll do that because we’ve been very good to them,” Trump said.
“I’m also going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil.”
He said that Saudi Arabia didn’t “show a lot of love” by not lowering the price of oil already, which he said would have the added benefit of ending the Russia-Ukraine war “immediately.”
“You got to bring down the oil price. You got to end that war,” he said. “With oil prices going down, I’ll demand that interest rates drop immediately. And likewise, they should be dropping all over the world. Interest rates should follow us.”
At that, Steve Schwarzman, the CEO of Blackstone Group, said: “I’m sure the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia will be really glad you gave this speech today.”
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