Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is expected to request an $1 trillion stimulus package to curb the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the U.S. economy, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.
Mnuchin met with Republican leaders via conference call Monday and headed to the Capitol to meet with Republican Senate leaders Tuesday, according to Bloomberg. Reports suggest the Republicans are considering combining the bill into the existing coronavirus spending bill passed by the House last week. The stimulus push comes as the coronavirus has put the stock market in freefall, entirely eliminating the gains made since President Donald Trump took office in 2017.
Mnuchin was originally expected to request $850 billion, but upped the number after his meeting with Senate Republicans.
US President Donald Trump (L) and China’s President Xi Jinping leave a business leaders event at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on November 9, 2017. (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images)
Mnuchin’s move comes as Trump’s resident China trade hawk Peter Navarro is leading efforts to draft a “Buy American” executive order that would allow companies to file certain expenses as tax write offs if they rejoin the American supply chain. (RELATED: Pornhub Traffic Increases Amid Coronavirus Fears)
“China has managed to dominate all aspects of the supply chain using the same unfair trade practices that it has used to dominate other sectors — cheap sweatshop labor, lax environmental regulations and massive government subsidies,” Navarro said of the order. “As President Trump has said, what we need to do is bring those jobs home so that we can protect the public health and the economic and national security of the country.” (RELATED: Katie Hill Says She ‘Almost Certainly’ Has Coronavirus)
National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow teased potential stimulus measures Monday, suggesting the White House is “going to try to help” airlines “if they get into a cash crunch.”
“We have a lot more work to do,” Mnuchin told reporters.