Mexico's richest man, Carlos Slim, warns against the use of tariffs, stating they increase inflation and don't solve problems. He advocates for investment in the US to revive its manufacturing sector and criticizes President Trump's approach to economic policy.
Carlos Slim Helu, Mexico's richest man and one of the world's wealthiest individuals, addressed a range of topics at his annual conference on Monday. Despite his extensive holdings in sectors ranging from communications and construction to an iconic Mexican restaurant and retail chain, much of the questioning centered — perhaps unsurprisingly — on the current US trade policies and the administration of President Donald Trump .
Slim met Trump during his first term while negotiating the free trade agreement, describing him then as a “negotiator, not a terminator.” Now, weeks into Trump's second term, Slim only commented that the situation Trump faces is complicated. “It would be interesting if he did a sort of double play, let’s say on one side reduce the costs of certain things and on the other channel it toward investment.” Slim said bluntly that tariffs don't work. 'They increase inflation … the interest rate doesn’t go down … tariffs don’t solve problems.” Slim said the 25% tariffs announced Monday by Trump on certain goods from Mexico, were a cause for concern. Moreover, he said a general tariff on Mexican imports is unlikely, because Trump and Mexican officials are following through on an agreement that would pause tariffs in exchange for bolstering border security.Slim believes the US needs to revitalize its manufacturing base. “The United States’ situation isn’t good … The United States stopped producing things,” Slim said, noting that it outsourced a lot of production abroad simply because it was cheaper. He thinks the semiconductor industry’s resurgence is a positive sign but believes that more needs to be done to attract businesses back to the United States. Trump has proposed reducing corporate taxes as a means of attracting businesses back to the United States, but Slim disagrees, arguing that this tactic alone will not suffice. “You have to speak with them and remind them that their country is the United States and encourage them to bring their overseas operations home,' Slim said. He rejected the idea that the world’s largest fortunes should be taxed, as some propose, because then those fortunes would go elsewhere. “The trick is that people work,” he said. Creating jobs, not just giving donations. Slim acknowledged that he had initially been impressed with Trump and had even attended his inauguration, but although he agrees with some of his ideas, he would not invest with him because his bets are very risky. While Slim agrees the U.S. needs to cut wasteful spending, he thinks this is something that should be done with care, not shutting down things in one swipe like “when he reduced 80% of Twitter staff.” Slim said he advocates for more security presence on the border from both the United States and Mexico. 'Double the guard here so that nothing gets out, and there so that nothing comes in.” Over in the U.S., he said, they keep the drugs and the money and here, the weapons and the violence
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