El Trumpo has seized the spotlight by the throat yet again today with his controversial tweet about Boeing, but some are thinking that there was an article that pushed him to do it.
This story in which Boeing CEO expressed concerns about Trump's views on trade posted just before Trump tweet —https://t.co/aBvK87GzzW
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) December 6, 2016
Here’s what might have angered el Trumpo:
Muilenburg suggests the Trump team, and Congress, back off from the 2016 anti-trade rhetoric and perceived threats to punish other countries with higher tariffs or fees.
Instead, he suggests they get down to the business of advocating a stronger U.S. agenda during ongoing or upcoming trade negotiations with other countries.
“If we do not lead when it comes to writing these rules, our competitors will write them for us,” he said.
This isn’t terribly critical, but Trump is notoriously thin-skinned and it’s not unlikely that he took them as criticisms.
The CEO also said that tariffs would hurt his company if Trump succeeded in implementing them:
…in remarks before the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association last week, Muilenburg conceded there’s more populist concern about international pacts than before the 2016 election campaign.
“I’m not a political pundit or prognosticator — we have too many of those — but anyone who paid attention to the recent campaigns and the election results realizes that one of the overarching themes was apprehension about free and fair trade,” he said.
Muilenburg argues that international trade is essential to the U.S. economy and its importance is reflected in the “large and growing percentage of our business” coming from international sales, including commercial jet orders from China.
“Last year, we delivered 495 737s from our factory in Renton, Wash., to customers around the world. One in every 3 of those 737s were bound for China. And about a quarter of all our airplane deliveries … were bound for Chinese customers. This phenomenon would have been unimaginable when I started at the company in 1985,” said Muilenburg, who began his Boeing career as an aerospace engineer.
Again, it all depends on how Trump would take these comments. Many believe he would never actually impose 35% tariffs and that it’s just a negotiating tactic to scare companies into doing what he wants. In Boeing’s case, at least we know they’re scared.