Trump adviser: Americans need to 'absorb a little bit of pain' [View all]

[Zorro]

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is upbeat about President Trump’s trade agenda. But he’s not promising a free lunch. “If you don’t show you’re willing to absorb a little bit of pain, how on earth are you going to get things changed?” he said at the Milken Institute’s annual finance-fest in Los Angeles, before heading to China for trade negotiations.

In a conversation with Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer, Ross jabbed the New York Times, rhapsodized about space, and predicted Trump’s threats on trade would ultimately produce success. Trade worries is one big thing holding back financial markets in an otherwise robust economy, with investors worried that tit-for-tat tariffs will blow up into an outright trade war.

Ross downplays those risks, pointing to tariffs on Korean-made washing machines the Trump administration imposed earlier this year. “There was a bit woe-is-me,” Ross said. “Well, guess what. Both Samsung and LG are increasing their production of washing machines in the United States.”

The Commerce Secretary provided an update on negotiations with Canada and Mexico about revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement, a huge trade pact that undergirds much of the US economy. “Either we’ll have a deal in the next few weeks or it probably won’t be until the fall,” Ross said, pointing out that upcoming elections in Canada and Mexico this summer would probably require a pause if there’s not a deal. By the same logic, Ross’s fall deadline might be unrealistic, given that the US midterm elections are in November.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-adviser-americans-need-absorb-little-bit-pain-185727558.html

You can be sure Wilbur Ross won't be absorbing any pain.

Making people suffer seems to be a consistent policy of Republicans and evangelicals.