- Title: Mexico's Slim: If Trump succeeds, so does Mexico
- Date: 1st December 2016
- Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (DECEMBER 1, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MEXICAN BILLIONAIRE CARLOS SLIM AND BLOOMBERG FOUNDER AND FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, SPEAKING ALONGSIDE ON A PANEL (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEXICAN BILLIONAIRE CARLOS SLIM, SAYING: "If the economy grows 4%, if they take out taxes for the middle class, and they make investments in infrastructure, and he creates 25 million jobs-- that's fantastic for Mexico at the end of the day." WIDE OF PANEL (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEXICAN BILLIONAIRE CARLOS SLIM, SAYING: "You cannot close your economy, like it looks like in some way he (U.S. President-elect Donald Trump) is doing. The consumers will have a big problem if they apply these taxes to imports, that they talk about high taxes. It's not possible because, looking to save maybe 50,000 jobs, they will affect 300 million people, with the prices and the consumption and the inflation and all the consequences." MEDIA AT EVENT (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEXICAN BILLIONAIRE CARLOS SLIM, SAYING: "Mexico needs to turn back to Mexico. Since the 80s and the debt crisis, we think 'outside.' We think that the best thing Mexico can do is to look for the external activity, to look for opening, for exports and imports, etc. But now we need to get back to Mexico and focus on the internal economy." SLIM AND BLOOMBERG AFTER EVENT
- Embargoed: 16th December 2016 21:59
- Keywords: Bloomberg Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim President-elect Donald Trump office Mexico U.S. government
- Location: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
- City: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Reuters ID: LVA0015B21M4J
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim said on Thursday (December 1) that if President-elect Donald Trump succeeds in office, it will be good news for Mexico.
"If the economy grows 4%, if they take out taxes for the middle class, and they make investments in infrastructure, and he creates 25 million jobs-- that's fantastic for Mexico at the end of the day," he said.
Slim, a telecoms tycoon who spent several years as the world's richest man, says he has never met Trump, but the two businessmen traded barbs during a bruising U.S. election campaign in which Trump vowed to build a wall along the southern border to keep out Mexican immigrants.
In October, Trump accused Slim, the top shareholder in The New York Times Co, of trying to help Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton, even though Slim's shares have limited voting rights.
Then, a few days before the Nov. 8 election, Slim said Trump's plans could "destroy" the United States economy.
In his first public comments since Republican Trump's stunning victory, Slim said that Trump's plans could risk the international leadership role the United States plays.
Slim also warned the audience about the effects of some of the protectionist measures Trump has threatened to impose, including steep tariffs on Mexican-made goods.
"You cannot close your economy, like it looks like in some way he (U.S. President-elect Donald Trump) is doing. The consumers will have a big problem if they apply these taxes to imports, that they talk about high taxes. It's not possible because, looking to save maybe 50,000 jobs, they will affect maybe 300 million people, with the prices and the consumption and the inflation and all the consequences," Slim said while speaking on a panel alongside Bloomberg founder and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, in Mexico City.
But Slim added that Trump's potential success would also be Mexico's, arguing that a 4 percent U.S. growth rate and the creation of millions of jobs would benefit Latin America's second biggest economy.
Mexico should turn its attention inward and invest to spur growth, Slim said. He said Trump's win had not affected any of his own investment plans.
"Mexico needs to turn back to Mexico. Since the 80s and the debt crisis, we think 'outside.' We think that the best thing Mexico can do is to look for the external activity, to look for opening, for exports and imports, etc. But now we need to get back to Mexico and focus on the internal economy," Slim added.
Trump has said he would renegotiate or scrap a trade deal with Mexico. Trump attacked U.S. companies investing south of the border, battering Mexico's peso. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
