US President Donald Trump told global business leaders on Thursday to manufacture in the United States or face tariffs, in his first major speech to global leaders since returning to the White House this week.
Since his inauguration on Monday, Trump has said Washington could impose high tariffs on its main trading partners, Canada, Mexico and China, as soon as February 1.
He has also signed a series of executive orders, pulling the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords and the World Health Organization.
“Come make your product in America and we’ll give you one of the lowest taxes of any nation in the world,” Trump said today, speaking remotely at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
“But if you don’t make your product in the United States, which is your prerogative, then you will simply have to pay a tariff,” he added.
In his speech, he added that he believed lower oil prices would help instantly end the war in Ukraine.
“I am also going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to reduce the cost of oil,” referring to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. “If the price fell, the war between Russia and Ukraine would end immediately,” he said.
“Right now, the price is high enough for the war to continue,” he added. Trump said he hoped to have a “very good relationship” with China, but stressed that “all we want is justice.”
‘Only two genders’
During his first administration, Trump engaged in an escalating tariff war with Beijing and also threatened higher tariffs during the election campaign.
In wide-ranging comments, Trump also signaled that he would press to lower interest rates. “I will demand that interest rates be lowered immediately,” he said. “Likewise, they should be falling all over the world. “Interest rates should follow us everywhere.”
She also spoke on the issue of gender surgery, saying that it has become “official policy of the United States, that there are only two genders, male and female.” He took aim at “men participating in women’s sports” and added that gender operations “will occur very rarely.”
Since taking office, Trump has promised an immediate overhaul of the American trade system, promising to impose tariffs and taxes on foreign countries for the benefit of American citizens.
He has signed an order directing agencies to study trade issues ranging from deficits to unfair practices, paving the way for higher tariffs in the future.
During his appearance, the US president also answered questions from the executive president of Bank of America, Brian Moynihan, the head of the investment firm Blackstone, Stephen Schwarzman, the executive president of the Spanish group Banco Santander, Ana BotĂn, and the president of the French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanne.
Milei from Argentina greets Trump
One of the Republican president’s biggest cheerleaders on the world stage, Argentina’s libertarian president, Javier Milei, took the stage hours before Trump and gave a fiery speech against “the mental virus of woke ideology.”
Milei said Argentina was “re-embracing the idea of ​​freedom” and “that is what I trust President Trump will do in this new America.” He praised like-minded leaders such as Trump, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele.
“Little by little, an international alliance has been formed between all those nations that want to be free and that believe in the ideas of freedom,” he stated.
He also defended his “dear friend” Elon Musk. The American billionaire and Trump ally caused a stir this week by making hand gestures at an inauguration event for the US president that drew comparisons to the Nazi salute.
Milei said Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been “unfairly vilified by wokeism in recent hours for an innocent gesture that only means… his gratitude to the people.”
One of Trump’s supporters in the business world, Marc Benioff, CEO of the American technology company Salesforce, was enthusiastic in a Bloomberg event on Wednesday.
“I’m very positive,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what’s going to happen. And it’s a new day and it’s an exciting time.”
‘Let’s not hyperventilate?’
America’s trading partners and rivals already had a chance to react in Davos earlier this week, as they prepare for a second round of their America First policies.
Without invoking Trump’s name, Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang warned: “There are no winners in a trade war.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Brussels was ready to negotiate with Trump.
But he also highlighted the European Union’s divergent policy with him on climate, saying the bloc would respect the Paris agreement.
World Trade Organization chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala today called for calm to prevail during a WEF panel discussion on tariffs, warning that tit-for-tat taxes would be “catastrophic” for the global economy.
“Please don’t hyperventilate,” he joked. “I know we are here to discuss tariffs. I’ve been telling everyone: could we relax too?
