Tag Archives: Larry Kudlow

Airline CEOs plead with White House to avert looming U.S. job cuts

By Jeff Mason and David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows met with major airline chief executives on Thursday as the industry braces for thousands of job cuts in two weeks, and urged lawmakers to embrace a $1.5 trillion coronavirus aid package proposed by a bipartisan congressional group and endorsed by President Donald Trump.

Meadows told reporters said that if House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi was willing to move a bill that would support airline workers and prevent layoffs, Trump would support it, noting the looming layoffs of thousands of workers set for Oct 1.

American Airlines Chief Executive Doug Parker said airlines would also be working with Pelosi.

​Meadows said the administration had examined executive action options, all of them less than ideal.

Airlines did not offer a new proposal but again made the case that helping avert airline job cuts was one good reason to pass a broad coronavirus relief bill.

After the meeting with Meadows, Parker said it was “not fair” that thousands of airline workers were about to be laid off. “We’re just here to plead with everyone involved to get to a quarterly package before October 1.”

Southwest Airlines Chief Executive Gary Kelly said the initial payroll support plan “didn’t go far enough and long enough.”

American has said it plans to end service to 15 small communities without additional government assistance.

At the end of this month the $25 billion in federal payroll assistance airlines received when the coronavirus first began spreading around the world is set to expire.

Congress also set aside another $25 billion in government loans for airlines, but many have opted not to tap that funding source.

Companies such as American are now pleading for a six-month extension while they simultaneously negotiate with employees to minimize thousands of job cuts that are expected without another round of aid.

Air travel has plummeted over the last six months as the coronavirus pandemic has claimed nearly 196,000 American lives and prompted many to avoid airports and planes, seriously depressing airline revenues.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert, David Shepardson and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Jonathan Oatis)

Trump willing to consider more aid to reopen schools, Kudlow says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump is willing to consider additional aid to re-open schools, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Monday.

“The president has said that he’s open to suggestions about additional funding if it appears that would be necessary in certain states and localities, so he will look at that,” Kudlow told reporters outside the White House.

Trump has been pushing for schools to re-open for the beginning of the school year in the fall, even while the coronavirus surges in states across the country.

Last week, Trump attacked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for school reopening guidelines that he said were too expensive and impractical.

The Trump administration has argued that schools must re-open in order to get the battered economy back on track, but critics have questioned whether it can be done safely.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert and Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Richard Chang)

Kudlow says Trump administration looking at ‘back to work bonus’

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s administration is looking carefully at a potential “back to work bonus” to encourage Americans who had been laid off as the coronavirus pandemic spread to return to work.

Kudlow, speaking on Fox News Channel, also said he does not think Congress will approve another $600 per week in extra jobless benefits to laid-off workers in a future coronavirus relief legislation.

(Reporting by Tim Ahmann, Lisa Lambert and Daphne Psaledakis)

U.S.-Japan trade deal may be finished, announced at U.N. General Assembly: Kudlow

FILE PHOTO: White House chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow speaks with reporters on the driveway outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, U.S. July 26, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A final trade deal between the United States and Japan may be finished and announced at the U.N. General Assembly meetings later this month, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Friday.

“We announced at the G7 in France – I was over there – the outline of a deal with Japan, that deal may be finished and announced in its entirety at the U.N. meetings coming up in a couple of weeks,” Kudlow said in an interview with Fox Business Network.

(Reporting by Tim Ahmann; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

U.S. wants ‘near term’ results from new China trade talks: Kudlow

FILE PHOTO: White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow talks with reporters on the driveway outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, U.S. August 2, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

By David Lawder and Makini Brice

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration wants to see “near term results” from U.S.-China trade talks in September and October, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Friday, but he declined to predict any outcomes or say if U.S. tariff delays were possible.

Speaking on CNBC and Bloomberg TV, Kudlow confirmed that the top U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators would meet in early October but added that a date had not been set.

The plans for the first in-person U.S.-China trade meetings since late July were set during a phone call on Thursday between Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Trade deputies are due to meet in mid-September.

The 14-month U.S.-China trade war has escalated sharply since May when talks broke down after Beijing backtracked on earlier commitments to make changes in law to improve intellectual property protections, curb the forced transfer of U.S. technology to Chinese firms and improve U.S. access to Chinese markets.

Since then, U.S. President Donald Trump has sharply increased existing tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and imposed or scheduled new tariffs on virtually all remaining imports from China to increase his negotiating leverage.

Kudlow told Bloomberg TV that he could not speculate on whether the September or October talks could delay a planned tariff increase on Oct. 1 to 30% from 25% on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods.

“Our team would like to go back and pick up where we left off in the May talks. Whether that will be possible remains to be seen,” Kudlow said.

He said Trump has shown willingness to use tariffs as part of the negotiating process.

“We want to see results. We would like to see results in the near term. When we don’t see results, we take additional actions,” Kudlow said. “On the other hand, if we do see results from these upcoming meetings, then progress will be made.”

Kudlow also said there were no preconditions for the October talks.

Trump later said on Twitter that China was hurting economically from the U.S. tariffs but that the new round of talks were positive.

“‘China is eating the Tariffs,'” Trump tweeted. “Billions pouring into USA. Targeted Patriot Farmers getting massive Dollars from the incoming Tariffs! Good Jobs Numbers, No Inflation(Fed). China having worst year in decades. Talks happening, good for all!”

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Tim Ahmann and David Lawder; Writing by David Lawder and Makini Brice; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Steve Orlofsky)

White House adviser doesn’t expect grand deal from next week’s China trade talks

White House chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow leaves after speaking with reporters on the driveway outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, U.S. July 26, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Friday he does not expect a grand deal from next week’s trade talks with China but that U.S. negotiators hoped to reset the stage for further productive talks on reducing trade barriers.

“They’re going to meet next week in Shanghai,” Kudlow said in an interview with CNBC. “I wouldn’t expect any grand deal. I think, talking to our negotiators, they’re going to kind of reset the stage and hopefully go back to where the talks left off last May.”

“We were doing well. No deal yet, but still on the structural issues, regarding IP (intellectual property) theft, forced transfer of technology, cyber interference, trade and non-trade, tariff barriers and so forth, certainly the enforcement mechanisms,” Kudlow added. “But if we were 90 percent there with 10 percent to go … I think our negotiators want to go back to that spot.”

Kudlow said the United States strongly expected China to make goodwill purchases of U.S. agricultural products.

The White House said on Wednesday that U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He for talks in Shanghai starting on July 30.

It would be their first face-to-face meeting since Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to revive talks to end their yearlong trade war.

Talks collapsed in May after China reneged on promises made in earlier negotiations, U.S. government and private-sector sources said at the time.

The governments of the world’s largest economies have levied billions of dollars of tariffs on each other’s imports, disrupted global supply chains and shaken financial markets in their dispute over how China does business with the rest of the world.

(Reporting by Makini Brice; writing by David Alexander; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

U.S. ‘looking for a deal’ with China on trade: White House adviser

FILE PHOTO: Chinese and U.S. flags are set up for a meeting during a visit by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao at China's Ministry of Transport in Beijing, China April 27, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee

By Susan Heavey and Leika Kihara

WASHINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) – The United States is seeking to make a trade deal with China, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Tuesday as bilateral talks between the world’s two economic powerhouses resume in Washington this week.

Kudlow, speaking in a live interview with Politico news outlet, said he backed U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s efforts to reach an agreement with Beijing and that both countries must take action.

“He is looking for a deal, I support him on that, wholeheartedly, assuming it’s a good deal. He has my support,” Kudlow said, adding that no agreement had been reached yet.

“Both sides should try to lower tariffs as much as possible … and to take down non-tariff barriers wherever they are,” he told Politico. “Free and open trade, I think that’s the solution. I think that’s where we are as a group.”

His comments come as U.S. President Donald Trump’s top trade and economic officials prepare to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He to discuss trade concerns ranging from intellectual property protections to farm goods to steel capacity.

Trump has long-promised to crack down on China and raised concerns about an all-out trade war after threatening $150 billion in tariffs and prompting China to retaliate.

But he offered an olive branch in calling on U.S. officials to revisit penalties for Chinese company ZTE Corp for flouting U.S. sanctions on trade with Iran and North Korea.

“Trade negotiations are continuing with China. They have been making hundreds of billions of dollars a year from the U.S., for many years. Stay tuned!” Trump tweeted on Tuesday.

Kudlow told Politico that the United States was not looking for a trade war with China and that it was not clear what action the United States would take toward ZTE.

This week’s meetings follow U.S.-China trade talks in Beijing earlier this month where the two countries failed to reach an agreement on the long list of U.S. demands.

U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad, who was at the Beijing talks, said earlier on Tuesday the United States wants a timetable on how China will open up its markets to U.S. exports as the two countries are still not close to resolving trade frictions.

“VERY FAR APART”

Washington and Beijing have proposed tens of billions of dollars in tariffs in recent weeks, fanning worries of a full-blown trade war that could hurt global supply chains and dent business investment plans.

Branstad, speaking at a conference in Tokyo, said the Chinese appeared “taken back” by the significance of the list.

“The Chinese have said ‘we want to see the specifics.’ We gave them all the specifics in terms of trade issues. So they can’t say they don’t know what we’re asking for,” he said.

Branstad said China has not met pledges to open up its insurance and financial services area, as well as reduce auto tariffs, and that Trump would like to see a “dramatic increase” in food exports to China.

“We’re still very far apart,” he said.

Branstad said the United States could rescind the “Section 301” tariffs if China opened its agriculture and auto markets.

Increasing U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas could also be an area where the two countries could agree, he said.

“The United States and China are the two biggest economies in the world. The more we can work things out, the better it’s going to be not just for U.S. and China, but for the entire world economy,” he said.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara in Tokyo, and Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Editing by Chris Gallagher, Darren Schuettler and Susan Thomas)