DAVOS: US President Donald Trump told business barons at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that he wants to lower global oil prices, interest rates and taxes, and warned they will face tariffs if they make their products abroad.
He also said he wanted to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin soon to secure an end to the almost three-year-old war with Ukraine, lamenting what he called the huge loss of life.
“I’ll demand that interest rates drop immediately. And likewise, they should be dropping all over the world,” Trump said via video conference on Thursday.
“I’m also going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil.”
The remarks were the first of Trump’s four-day-old presidency to global business and political leaders at a time when markets are on edge over his plans for broad tariffs on imported goods. Oil prices turned negative as Trump spoke, while the euro dipped and the US dollar swung between gains and losses against a basket of foreign currencies. reuters
Trump says he would like to meet Putin soon to end Ukraine war
Some of US President Donald Trump’s harshest criticism was reserved for traditional US allies Canada and the European Union who he threatened again with new tariffs, while berating their import policies blaming them for the US’s trade goods deficit with these partners.
“One thing we’re going to be demanding is we’re going to be demanding respect from other nations. Canada. We have a tremendous deficit with Canada. We’re not going to have that anywhere,” he said.
On the Ukraine war, Trump said, “I really would like to be able to meet with President Putin soon to get that war ended. And that’s not from the standpoint of economy or anything else. It’s from the standpoint of millions of lives are being wasted… It’s a carnage. And we really have to stop that war.”
People cheered as Trump’s face appeared on the big screen. Trump, whose first elected office was the White House, listed the rapid-fire changes he had made since his swearing-in on Monday. He also sharply criticizing his predecessor Joe Biden and policies that have dominated at Davos for years, from climate change policies to diversity. Former US secretary of state John Kerry, who served under Biden, visibly winced as he listened.
Trump promised to reduce inflation with a mix of tariffs, deregulation and tax cuts along with his crackdown on illegal immigration and commitment to making the United States a hub of artificial intelligence, cryptocurrencies and fossil fuels. He also criticised the levels of taxation in the European Union. “The United States has the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we’re going to use it,” Trump said.
(Credit: Reuters)