Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has plans to cut US corporate tax rate further down to 15 per cent if he is elected in the upcoming elections and may appoint JPMorgan’s top boss Jamie Dimon as the US treasury secretary.
In a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, the former president reminded top chief executive officers of the country that he had slashed tax rates from “39 per cent to 21 per cent” (35 per cent to 21 per cent) and had promised to cut it down further to 20 per cent.
“They loved it, they were happy,” Trump recalled, adding that he wants to cut the rate even lower than that “I would like to get it down to 15”. The remarks were made during a private meeting with top CEOs in Washington in June, according to the interview.
In addition to targeting China for new tariffs of anywhere from 60-100 per cent, he said he would impose a 10 per cent across-the-board tariff on imports from other countries, citing complaints about foreign countries not buying enough US goods.
Dimon for secretary
Trump added that he will not try ousting Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell before the central banker’s term ends and would consider JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon for treasury secretary if he won the November 5 election.
JPMorgan declined to comment on Trump’s remarks.
Trump had until recently been critical of Dimon. Last year, Trump called Dimon a “Highly overrated Globalist” on his Truth Social platform.
Powell term
Powell’s term as chair expires in 2026. Powell’s seat on the Fed board of governors expires in 2028. Powell said on Monday he has no plans to leave his post as head of the US central bank before his term expires. Powell was first appointed to the Fed board of governors by former President Barack Obama, but it was Trump who picked him to lead the central bank, a post Powell assumed in early 2018.
Trump turned against him soon after, railing against the interest rate hikes that the Fed delivered during Powell’s first year at the helm.
Trump went so far as to discuss firing the Fed chief, although aides later said Trump concluded that he likely did not have the power to do so. That did not stop Trump from continuing to threaten Powell throughout his presidency, a practice President Joe Biden, Trump’s successor, has refrained from during his term.
Trump said in the interview that the Fed should abstain from cutting rates before the November elections.
