Academician: Trump Will Integrate Business Acumen In Administration

By Azlee Nor Mahmud KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 (Bernama) -- United States President Donald Trump is expected to incorporate his strong business acumen in his administration, said an academician. Sunway University Business School Economics Professor, Dr Yeah Kim Leng, said Trump's promise of more infrastructure spending, deregulation, tax reduction and less bureaucracy would be positive for the US economy, which was already on an improving trend before his inauguration. "However, he will have to contend with the twin trade and fiscal deficits facing the US economy, as well as the high government debt level. "These constraints will temper with some of the exuberance of Trumpnomics. Less positive for the world is that the businessman in him will see him driving a hard bargain for the US in its relationships and interactions with the rest of the world," Yeah told Bernama in an interview. He said exacerbating this situation were Trump's threats of punitive tariffs and tough penalties on countries like China and Mexico over unfair trade. Yeah concurred with research houses' claims that Trump took a protectionist stance on the US economy, saying that the new president viewed the current trade with China, Mexico and other trading partners as being less beneficial to the US as it resulted in job losses, trade deficits and lost opportunities for American companies. "We will likely see him driving hard bargains in terms of extracting more concessions from major trading partners such as Japan, China, Mexico and Europe. "He will also either lure or lean on US companies to bring overseas production home in his quest to make America great again," said Yeah. Yeah, who is also an economist/analyst, said while Trump would deploy more inward-looking and protectionist stance, however, a more nuanced position would likely emerge once the reality of an interconnected and inter-dependent world set in. On whether Trump's policies would augur well with the rest of the world, Yeah said a key uncertainty over his policies was to what extent the conflicts in politics, trade and investment between the US and China would be. "If the approach is confrontational and the relationship rocky and disruptive, then global growth and world trade, which has already been slowing down, will see further downside," he added. --BERNAMA