
First published: Prospectmagazine.co.uk, 21/02/2017
Steven Mnuchin will be point man for Trump’s “phenomenal” tax plan
Last week Steven Mnuchin, President Trump’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, was finally confirmed by lawmakers. Another ex-Goldman Sachs banker, he joins those in the new administration deemed to be “pragmatists,” compared to those of a more ideological bent. Given that the appearance of normality passes for good news in Washington DC nowadays, it is perhaps noteworthy that Mnuchin got off to a decent start.
He has had amicable conversations with both UK Chancellor Philip Hammond and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble. The Trump administration has only had kind words for Brexit Britain but Peter Navarro, who heads the National Trade Commission, had previously let fly at Germany over currency manipulation and unfair trade. More importantly, Mnuchin has had talks with Chinese officials: Vice Premier Wang Yang; Liu He, a minister and a close adviser to President Xi Jinping; People’s Bank of China Chairman Zhou Xiaochuan; and Finance Minister Xiao Jie….Read more: