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Steven Mnuchin Speaks To CNBC, Fails To Give Trump Tax Plan Details: Key Highlights

Following his first interview since being confirmed yesterday with the WSJ, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke to CNBC's Becky Quick and repeated some of the key points he made yesterday, among which his hope to get tax reform done by the August Congress recess, however he again confirmed that there are too many moving pieces at this point saying it is "too early to give details" of the Trump tax plan.

He also reiterated that "we're primarily focused on a middle-income tax cut and simplification for business"

As a reminder, on February 9th stocks surged after President Trump promised a "phenomenal" tax plan to be unveiled in "two or three weeks." It appears that this will not happen, and instead in his State of the Union address, where the market expects more clarity on Trump's economic policies to be unveiled, Trump will be forced to speak in broad generalities as he juggles not only passage of his tax plan in Congress, but also the process of "repeal and replace" (and rename and repair) of Obamacare which similarly has gotten bogged down in negotiations in Congress. Overnight we laid out an extensive primer of how Trump's tax policies will likely be impacted by the stalled negotiations over Obamacare.

As a reminder, yesterday in his WSJ interview, Mnuchin said the administration was working with House and Senate Republicans to smooth over differences among them on tax policy, with the aim of passing major legislation before Congress leaves for its August recess. He added, “that’s an ambitious timeline. It could slip to later in the year.” He also said the administration is “looking seriously” at the House plan that includes border adjustment and was well aware of concerns raised by specific industries. The Treasury Department had its own concerns, he added, “about what the impact may be on the dollar” from a border-adjusted tax.

On another hot button topic, despite Trump previous vows to name China a currency manipulator, Mnuchin said "we're not making any judgments" at this time.

Overall, Mnuchin avoided most "hot button" topics, and reiterated the same vague WSJ talking points to CNBC. In addition to the punchline, namely that it is "too early to give details of tax plans" here are some other notable mentions by Mnuchin in the interview:

  • "Most important thing for growth is the tax plan; tax reform is mostly focused on the middle class"
  • "Tax reform will be significant"
  • "High income tax cuts should be offset; the dollar and stocks are reflecting confidence in the US economy"
  • "Isn't focused on day to day market moves"
  • "Looking closely at border adjustment tax" although he added that there are some issues with it.
  • "3% growth is very achievable, could be late 2018 before we see 3% growth"
  • "Not making judgments on China currency policy; Treasury has a process for reviewing foreign-exchange policies"
  • "Trump admin's growth forecast is likely to be higher that Congress"
  • "Regulatory relief is also important to boost growth"
  • "We're looking at significant economic changes, we're reaching out to businesses"

Finally, while he denied to provide details on plans for a 50 year bonds, he conceded that the "idea of issuing 50-year or 100-year U.S. Treasuries worth a serious look."

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Business
Politics
Congress
US Treasury