‘My message to every business in the world is very simple, come make your product in America’
President Donald Trump addressed the World Economic Forum on Thursday, announcing that “America is back and open for business” in a speech that promised low taxes for foreign companies but also vowed to slap tariffs on those that manufacture their products outside the United States.
Fresh off his election victory, Trump struck a triumphant tone at the forum, calling for a “revolution of common sense” to combat rising food prices, inflation, and the crisis at the U.S. border.
“My message to every business in the world is very simple, come make your product in America, and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on Earth,” said Trump in a remote video address to attendees in Davos, Switzerland.
“But if you don’t make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then, very simply, you will have to pay a tariff.”
“My message to every business in the world is very simple, come make your product in America and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on Earth,” says President Trump at Davos https://t.co/KLxNplP9j1 pic.twitter.com/Xvhu03dmST
— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) January 23, 2025
While the Davos forum has historically been resistant to Trump’s American-centric economic policies, he didn’t hold back in calling for stronger tariffs, a withdrawal from climate pledges like the Paris Agreement, an end to corporate diversity mandates, and for NATO countries to contribute 5 percent of their gross domestic product to defense spending.
Trump also touted the barrage of executive orders that he signed during his first days in office, including a federal hiring freeze, overturning the electric vehicle mandate, and ending government-led diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, which he called “nonsense.”
“We’ve accomplished more in four days than other administrations have accomplished in four years, and we are just getting started,” said Trump. “America will once again become a merit-based country.”
Trump said he is also asking the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to drop the price of oil, a move that he said would help end Russia’s war in Ukraine. He said his administration is hopeful it can negotiate a peace deal between the countries.
President Donald Trump said he would ask Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations to “bring down the cost of oil” as he addressed world leaders gathered in Davos. He also said he’d “demand that interest rates drop immediately” https://t.co/cOwzMzHVtE pic.twitter.com/ItU2me4vb9
— Bloomberg (@business) January 23, 2025
During a question-and-answer session, Trump was greeted warmly by forum panelists, including Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, and WEF President Børge Brende, who congratulated him on his election.
Read the full article here
