The United States insisted Wednesday it was not turning its back on the world as President Donald Trump prepared to sell his "America First" message to sceptical fellow leaders railing against protectionism at the Davos economic summit. As Germany and France stepped up to defend a liberal world order, top US officials moved to reassure them that "America First" meant defending US interests but not going it alone.
"This is about an America First agenda but America First does mean working with the rest of the world," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters at the gathering of heads of government, business tycoons, campaigners and celebrities. "It just means that President Trump is looking out for American interests, no different than other leaders look out for their own," he added.
In an address scheduled to close the forum on Friday, the protectionist Trump will come face to face with the liberal elites of the Davos-set whom he ridiculed during his election campaign. German Chancellor Angela Merkel stepped up to the defence of global free trade as business and political leaders braced for Trump's arrival.
"We think that shutting ourselves off, isolating ourselves, will not lead us into a good future. Protectionism is not the answer," she said in a speech. "Let us keep pace with the best in the world and let us canvas for this multilateral approach." She shared the billing on Wednesday's Davos schedule with French President Emmanuel Macron - a former banker - in a double-act dubbed "Merkron" by various media.
A French presidential source said Macron would tout his own economic reforms and call for globalisation with more social justice, in his Davos speech scheduled later on Wednesday.
- Washing-machine wars -
Trump's harsh stance on trade angered China and South Korea this week with new tariffs on solar panels and large washing machines. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, also in Davos, staunchly defended Monday's tariffs announcement and said Washington would not flinch from reprisals against countries that flout the rules. "Trade wars are fought every single day... and unfortunately every single day there are various parties violating the rules and trying to take unfair advantage," Ross said.
"Trade wars have been in place for quite a little while. The difference is the US troops are now coming to the ramparts," he added. The man behind China's economic policy also took the stage at Davos on Wednesday, pledging to further open the country to the world in a direct echo of President Xi Jinping's speech at the forum last year. Liu He, President Xi Jinping's main economic advisor, promised foreign companies greater access to China's financial services market, manufacturing and some service industries.
While tariffs are anathema to the business elite in Davos, many delegates have welcomed Trump's controversial tax reform which is bringing the headline rate of US corporate tax down to 21 percent, significantly undercutting many countries in Europe. Mnuchin, however, said the United States was not bent on a "race to the bottom" on tax rates by luring away foreign investors unfairly.
While Trump intends to come to Davos as salesman-in-chief for US economic interests, Macron is equally determined to defend a global system shaped by mutually agreed rules. He also seeks to uphold gender equality, in contrast to the US president's controversy-laden record on women. He arrives in the Swiss ski resort after rallying some 140 chief executives at a meeting in the Palace of Versailles on Monday in his drive for a business "renaissance". Many of the bosses are in Davos too.
Merkel was late in confirming that she would attend Davos, tearing herself away from efforts to form a new government after an election setback in September. The Europeans grabbed the spotlight at Davos after the leaders of India and Canada also rallied Tuesday against Trump's protectionist stance. Canadian premier Justin Trudeau celebrated the announcement of a new Asia-Pacific trade agreement among 11 countries to replace one that Trump pulled out of last year.
Comments
Comments are closed.