President-elect Donald Trump will likely return to key pillars of his previous economic platform such as tariffs, tax cuts and sanctions when he takes office in January, the former Treasury secretary said Thursday.
Steven Mnuchin, who held the position throughout Trump's first term from 2017 to 2021, told CNBC that he sees these provisions as important to the Republican agenda.
Mnuchin said in an interview with “Squawk Box” that tax cuts are “a distinctive part of his program.” “I think it would be easy to pass this in Congress, especially if Republicans control the House as well, which appears to be the case.”
Also on the agenda are tariffs, which Trump implemented on multiple items during his first term and has promised to do so again.
“I think tariffs need to be used to bring counterparties back to the table, especially China, which is not living up to all the agreements it has made,” Mnuchin said.
Finally, he noted that countries such as Iran and Russia can expect sanctions to be imposed again. The Trump administration imposed measures against oil producers in Iran in 2019 because they are owned by the Revolutionary Guard.
“The sanctions imposed on Iran and Russia have been very effective,” Mnuchin said. “In the case of Iran, they are now selling millions of barrels of oil, which must be stopped.”
Outside of these issues, Mnuchin, who said he likely will not take a formal role in the Trump administration but “would be happy to serve from the outside,” expects Trump to take on other issues such as aggressive deficit spending.
“I think it's in a position now, especially with this overwhelming result, to deal with the difficult issues, and I think that should be part of government spending,” he said.
Mnuchin is the founder of Liberty Strategic Capital.
