After a first week filled with meetings and headlines, President Donald Trump and White House officials announced the launch of a Manufacturing Jobs Initiative on Friday as a part of the administration’s overall job creation agenda.
Trump talked with numerous industry executives over the course of the week in meetings coordinated by Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris. Now, according to the White House, Trump will meet regularly with many of those same top executives, working with them to “best promote jobs and get Americans back to work again.”
During a meeting Monday, Trump said he wanted to cut regulations by at least 75%, though he did not detail which current regulations might be targeted. Trump also repeated his campaign pledge to cut the corporate tax rate, rewarding American manufacturers.
In late November, former White House press secretary Josh Earnest announced that 805,000 manufacturing jobs had been created during President Barack Obama’s eight years in office. According to FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, the country actually suffered a net loss of 303,000 manufacturing jobs during that time.
Details on when and how often the new council will meet were not included in the initial announcement, though a lengthy roster of members was:
Inge Thulin, 3M Co.
Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO president
Scott Paul, Alliance for American Manufacturing
Klaus Kleinfeld, Arconic Inc.
Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing Co.
Denise Morrison, Campbell Soup Co.
Doug Oberhelman, Caterpillar Inc.
Wendell Weeks, Corning Inc.
Jim Kamsickas, Dana Inc.
Michael Dell, Dell Technologies
Andrew Liveris, Dow Chemical Co.
Mark Fields, Ford Motor Co.
Jeff Immelt, General Electric Co.
Bill Brown, Harris Corp.
Brian Krzanich, Intel Corp.
Mark Sutton, International Paper Co.
Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed Martin Corp.
Ken Frazier, Merck & Co. Inc.
Mike Polk, Newell Brands Inc.
John Ferriola, Nucor Corp.
Elon Musk, Tesla Motors Inc.
Rich Kyle, Timken Co.
Kevin Plank, Under Armour Inc.
Greg Hayes, United Technologies Corp.
Mario Longhi, U.S. Steel Corp.
Jeff Fettig, Whirlpool Corp.
