8 CEO’s resigned.
BusinessInsider
While media is blaming Trump for his Charlottesville response, maybe the real truth is due to the opening talks on NAFTA…
President Donald Trump doesn’t want a fresh coat of paint on the North American Free Trade Agreement. He wants to strip the house down to the studs.
That was the main takeaway on the first day of talks with Mexico and Canada to revise the 23-year-old accord. Some analysts had been expecting a modest revision of the accord to bring it in line with provisions included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. While Trump withdrew from TPP in his first week in office, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has indicated parts of TPP could form the starting point for a new Nafta. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer made clear Wednesday that Trump is seeking far more than a TPP clone. Instead, the administration will push to win back the jobs and manufacturing capacity the U.S. lost under Nafta. “For countless Americans, this agreement has failed,” said Lighthizer. “We cannot ignore the huge trade deficits, the lost manufacturing jobs, the businesses that have closed.” More here.
U.S. corporations want stability and predictability for planning purposes for investment probabilities in coming years. Wall Street wants the same thing, while Wall Street has been existing in the moment for immediate financial returns.
Then there is the tax reform discussion which it is noted a plan is to come forth after Labor Day and that would affect jobs, the economy and corporate hiring.
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!
Frankly, it was an excellent mobilization of corporate CEO’s to discuss the future of business and growth. Discussions included inversion, regulations, payroll, innovation, expansion and more.
The timing could not be worse after President Trump’s major announcement regarding the attention and plans for infrastructure mission was announced at Trump Tower.
There were 17 of them, this list is here.
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was disbanding two business advisory councils after a flood of criticism led some chief executives to quit over the president’s response to violence in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend.
The heads of manufacturers 3M and Campbell’s Soup both announced Wednesday they were quitting the manufacturing council, and the other group, led by Blackstone Chief Executive Steven Schwarzman, was said to be on the verge of disbanding.
“Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!” Trump wrote on Twitter. More here.
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As Bloomberg notes: The executive council, which is led by Blackstone Group LP’s Stephen Schwarzman, planned to inform the White House Wednesday before making the announcement public, according to the person, who wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The strategy group is one of several the White House convened earlier this year to advise the president. Several CEOs from a manufacturing council quit this week, following blowback over Trump’s remarks about racially charged violence in Virginia on Saturday.
Pressure to leave the groups has built following a press conference Trump held in New York Tuesday where he placed partial blame for the weekend violence on demonstrators protesting a gathering of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia. A woman was killed during the event after a man rammed a car into a crowd.
While more than half a dozen CEOs have quit a manufacturing CEO group, others have said they wanted to stay on the panels in order to influence White House policy.
The manufacturing council hasn’t met since February. The CEOs of Under Armour, Intel, Merck quit earlier this week. And on Wednesday, Inge Thulin, CEO of 3M left, as did Campbell Soup CEO Denise Morrison.
“Following yesterday’s remarks from the president, I cannot remain on the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative,” Morrison said in a statement. “I will continue to support all efforts to spur economic growth and advocate for the values that have always made America great.”
