Trump’s economic team promises to slash taxes and end ‘dumb trade’

Donald Trump’s new economic team has vowed to push ahead with his proposals to slash taxes, loosen bank regulation and shake up US links with China and other trading partners.

The pledges to stand firm on Mr Trump’s campaign promises came as the president-elect nominated former Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin as Treasury secretary and confirmed private equity mogul Wilbur Ross as his choice for commerce secretary.

The two Wall Street insiders, set to be co-heads of the Trump economic team, said Mr Trump’s policies would return the US economy to a sustained annual growth rate of 3-4 per cent while lifting wages and creating more “good jobs”.

Mr Trump’s transition team also nominated Todd Ricketts, co-owner of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, as deputy commerce secretary. Mr Mnuchin, 53, a hedge fund manager and Hollywood movie producer, will play a central role in transforming tax, Wall Street and international financial ties. Democrats condemned him as a creature of Wall Street. Democratic senator Sherrod Brown said: “This isn’t draining the swamp – it’s stocking it with alligators.”

Mr Mnuchin said on CNBC the Trump administration would create “huge economic growth” via its plan to reduce the US federal corporate tax rate from 35 per cent to 15 per cent. He disputed analysts who say most of the benefits of Mr Trump’s tax plan would go to the wealthy, saying “there will be no absolute tax cut for the upper class” because deduction caps would offset lower rates.

Asked about Mr Trump’s pledge to label China as a currency manipulator in his first 100 days, Mr Mnuchin said: “If we determine that we need to label them as a currency manipulator that’s something the Treasury would do.”

Mr Ross said Mr Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on Chinese and Mexican imports would not be a first resort but part of the negotiations as the US aimed to boost American exports.

Rejecting the “protectionist” label, he said: “It’s not really something that’s meaningful. There’s trade, there’s sensible trade, and there’s dumb trade. We’ve been doing a lot of dumb trade. And that’s the part that’s going to get fixed.”