Editor’s note: CEO of CPA, Michael Stumo, was interviewed by Inside US Trade to discuss Trump’s first 100 days.
Michael Stumo, the CEO of the Coalition for Prosperous America — which includes members from various industry and labor groups — said he is generally pleased with the direction of Trump’s trade policy so far, but that he would like to see more concrete outcomes. Stumo pointed to Trump’s executive order focusing on trade deficits as an example of progress the administration is making, saying that it is a good sign that the administration will see if those deficits are “natural or mercantilist.”
“We think they’re on the right track,” he said, while also saying he is happy that Democrats are holding Trump accountable.
“We’re very happy at CPA that the Democrats are holding the administration responsible because there is a plausible risk that it can be studies only,” he said.
[Isabelle Hoagland, Brett Fortnam, & Charlie Mitchell] April 28th, 2017 [Inside U.S. Trade]
At the 100-day mark of President Trump’s term, the president has kept his promise to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and have the Commerce Department and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative review “foreign trade abuses” by trading partners, while other commitments made on the campaign trail have remained elusive.
Republicans, Democrats and business sources have all suggested — with varying degrees of vehemence — that the administration’s trade policy has been scattered and the overall direction of Trump’s trade actions remains unclear.
On the campaign trail, Trump released a “contract with the American voter” that included four concrete actions he would take on trade policy in the first 100 days of his administration: announce his intention to withdraw from or renegotiation the North American Free Trade Agreement, withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, name China a currency manipulator, and order Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to identify “all foreign trading abuses that unfairly impact American workers.”
