President to forum: Let’s do business
U.S. backs free trade, officials tell summit
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is ready to play salesman as he heads to an economic summit in the Swiss Alps, making the case that his “America First” agenda can go hand-in-hand with global cooperation.
Trump is set to arrive at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday to declare that the United States is open for business.
“I’m going to Davos right now to get people to invest in the United States,” Trump said Wednesday before his overnight flight to Europe. “I’m going to say: ‘Come into the United States. You have plenty of money.’ But I don’t think I have to go because they’re coming, they’re coming at a very fast clip.”
In a tweet sent before departing the White House Trump said, “Our economy is now booming and with all I am doing, will only get better … Our country is finally WINNING again!”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin got to Davos ahead of Trump and said Wednesday that the United States supports free trade.
“‘America First’ does mean working with the rest of the world,” said Mnuchin, who is leading the largest U.S. delegation ever to attend the exclusive gathering. “It just means that President Trump is looking out for American workers and American interests, no different than he expects other leaders would look out for their own.”
Commerce Secretary Wilbur
Ross argued that new U.S. tariffs on imported solar-energy components and large washing machines are meant to deal with “inappropriate behavior” by other countries and are not protectionist. Still, Ross conceded that China could respond by imposing its own tariffs on U.S. products.
As he signed the tariffs, Trump said he was heading to Davos to talk “about investing in the United States again.”
The president is set to address the forum Friday. He is expected to showcase the booming U.S. economy and measures like his recent tax overhaul. A critic of trade deals he sees as unfair to the United States, Trump will stress the need for what he sees as fair competition.