GE's Immelt: 'We Don't Need Trade Deals'

Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) CEO and chairman of the board, sat down for an interview with CNBC to talk about new trade agreements that could be implemented by President-elect Donald Trump.

What A Trump Presidency Could Mean

Immelt pointed out that Trump is far from the first person to talk about returning to the drawing board and coming up with new trade deals and agreements. He added that it remains to be seen what exactly Trump and his administration will propose, but according to Immelt, General Electric can "navigate the world on our own."

Immelt continued that General Electric is a global company operating in 190 countries and does so from a local standpoint.

"I believe in trade deals but we don't need trade deals in GE," Immelt said. "I think what President Trump will learn is that as he travels the world, trade deals gives [sic] him power. The ability to use trade as an economic negotiating technique makes him powerful."

Trump And Deal-Making

Immelt noted that during Trump's presidency, unless he has trade deals with many countries, he may lose a large chunk of his negotiating power. If anyone should understand this concept, it's Trump — who championed himself as a superb deal-maker.

Immelt also had some encouraging words to describe Trump based on prior relationships when General Electric owned NBC and Trump was the star of the reality show "The Apprentice."

"This is a guy that's a competitor; he wants to win," Immelt said. "And I always found him in one-on-one sessions to be a listener and a guy that wanted to do good work."

Some Speculative Specifics

Finally, Immelt offered his take of what specific policies could be implemented as part of Trump's vision to increase jobs at home. The policies include: 1) tax reform, 2) the ability to invest better, 3) better roads and ports, 4) organizations like import/export banks.

Image Credit: By WRI Staff [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons