Trump Gives Biz Leaders 30 Days To Put Together Plan To Create Jobs
DETROIT (WWJ) - Ford Motor Co. CEO Mark Fields says President Donald Trump's meeting with some big league business leaders was "very positive."
The new president met with a group of top manufacturing leaders — including Fields, Elon Musk, the head of SpaceX; Andrew Liveris, the CEO of Dow Chemical; and the executives from Dell, Johnson & Johnson and Lockheed Martin — for what the Trump administration called "a listening session" in the in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on Monday.
Liveris told reporters following the meeting that he was impressed with how "engaged" the president was, explaining that Trump has given them 30 days to come up a plan for a series action to help stimulate the American manufacturing sector.
President Trump's message was that he's willing to help these business leaders with things like tax cuts, but he wants American jobs in return. Therefore, he's looking for specific ideas on how to create jobs.
A second White House meeting Tuesday will focus specifically on automotive issues.
"The president will have a breakfast tomorrow with the auto industry, including the heads of GM, Chrysler and Ford," said White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. "He looks forward to hearing their ideas on how we can work together to bring more jobs back to this industry in particular."
Fields said he's interested in engaging with Trump on trade, taxes and regulations and he felt that a lot was accomplished in the meeting.
"I know I come out with a lot of confidence that the president is very, very serious on making sure that the United States economy is going to be strong, and have policies — tax, regulatory or trade — to drive that," Fields told reporters.
"I think that encourages all of us as CEOs as we make decisions going forward," Fields added.
Trump in the past criticized Ford and other U.S. automakers for importing cars from Mexico and has threatened tariffs of 35 percent on those cars. He later praised Ford, taking some credit for himself, when the company said it would scrap plans to build a new $1.6 billion plant in Mexico while at the same time announcing a $700 million investment in its Flat Rock, Michigan, plant to build hybrid electric vehicles.
