West Coast business executives are worried about the uncertainty created by President-elect Trump’s proposals for trade and immigration policy, a Federal Reserve official said in comments published Wednesday.
Executives are excited about the possibility of lower taxes and lighter regulation under Trump, said Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams in an interview with the New York Times. But he said, “it was striking because in that same conversation where people said ‘I’m bullish on this or cautiously optimistic on that,’ it was striking how much concern business leaders in my district expressed around immigration and trade.”
Williams’ district includes not just San Francisco, but also all of the western parts of the country, including Hawaii and Alaska.
The central banker said that exporters and farm owners aren’t necessarily politically motivated in asking about Trump’s policies, but instead are uncertain about how their businesses could be affected.
Trump has proposed to deport more illegal immigrants and limit some visas used by tech and farm workers. He has also called for renegotiating or pulling out of major trade deals.
Stock markets have surged since the election, a rally that some investors and Fed officials have attributed to expectations that Trump’s proposed tax cuts and deregulation could boost economic output next year. Williams, however, downplayed that by saying that growth, and the Fed’s monetary policy, are influenced by many national and international trends.
