億萬富翁投資者將出任美國商務部長

Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, known on Wall Street as the king of bankruptcy for his record of buying failing companies, is in line to be Donald Trump’s commerce secretary, putting an advocate of renegotiating US trade pacts in a key economic post.

億萬富翁投資者威爾伯.羅斯(Wilbur Ross)將出任唐納德.特朗普(Donald Trump)政府的商務部長，這將讓一位支持重新談判美國貿易協定的人接手一個關鍵經濟職位；羅斯在華爾街因收購倒閉公司的記錄而有破產之王之稱。

Mr Ross was a close adviser during the campaign and helped develop the president-elect’s policies for corporate tax cuts, increased infrastructure spending and international trade.

羅斯曾在美國總統競選期間擔任特朗普的核心圈子顧問，幫助制定了當選總統的下調公司稅率、擴大基礎設施支出以及國際貿易方面的政策。

He declined to comment when contacted by the Financial Times but his nomination would be the latest sign that Mr Trump has no intention of backing away from his more controversial economic policies in the White House.

英國《金融時報》聯繫他時，他拒絕置評，但他的任命將是一個最新跡象，表明特朗普無意在入主白宮後放棄比較有爭議的經濟政策。

A former investment banker who specialised in corporate turnrounds, Mr Ross has been particularly outspoken on the need to overhaul business taxes, advocating cuts in corporate rates and incentives for US groups to repatriate profits parked overseas.

羅斯曾經是一位專長於讓公司起死回生的投行家，他在改革企業稅收的必要性方面尤爲觀點鮮明，支持下調公司稅率，並激勵美國公司匯回存放於海外的利潤。

Trump is putting fiscal policy to work . . . there is a real limit to what monetary policy can do, he told the FT this month.

特朗普將讓財政政策發揮作用……貨幣政策的作用確實有限，他本月告訴英國《金融時報》。

Tax cuts will boost earnings by 30 per cent.

減稅將讓公司盈利增加30%。

Mr Trump has reached beyond his immediate inner circle in recent days to pick outsiders for education secretary, UN ambassador and housing secretary.

最近幾天，特朗普把目光投向身邊的小圈子以外，任命圈外人士出任教育部長、駐聯合國(UN)大使和住房部長。

But those posts have relatively little power in Washington — key education and housing decisions are made by local governments —

但這些職位在華盛頓的實權相對較小；關鍵的教育和住房決策是由地方政府做出的。

and Mr Ross’s nomination comes amid signs that Mr Trump will give top economic posts to loyalists.

特朗普任命羅斯之際，有跡象顯示，特朗普將任命親信出任頂級經濟職位。

Steven Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs banker who served as Mr Trump’s campaign finance chairman, is seen as frontrunner for Treasury secretary.

高盛(Goldman Sachs)前銀行家、曾擔任特朗普競選財務主席的史蒂芬.姆欽(Steven Mnuchin)被視爲最有可能出任財政部長。

Mr Ross has strong free-market views and long experience in one of the more ruthless corners of finance, but is known for a low-key, self-effacing style, a stark contrast with other high-profile Wall Street figures.

羅斯持強烈的自由市場觀點，他在一個比較無情的金融領域有着長期經驗，但以低調和謙遜風格聞名，這與華爾街其他高調人物形成鮮明對比。

In 2000, he set up WL Ross and did several deals with struggling companies in the industrial Midwest, an area ¬crucial to Mr Trump’s victory.

2000年，他創建WL Ross，在美國中西部工業腹地與幾家步履維艱的公司達成交易，該地區對於特朗普獲勝至關重要。

A New Jersey native based in New York, Mr Ross also has a house in Palm Beach near Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

羅斯生於新澤西，住在紐約，他在佛羅里達州棕櫚灘(Palm Beach)還有一套別墅，靠近特朗普的Mar-a-Lago莊園。

We are tying to spur more investment; the big lagging thing in our economy has been the shrinkage of gross private sector investment, Mr Ross said of corporate tax cuts.

羅斯在談到下調公司稅率時表示：我們正努力刺激更多投資；我國經濟中遠遠落後的一點是私營部門總投資下滑。

Speaking to the FT last week, Mr Ross said he was not antitrade and was keen to encourage international commerce.

羅斯上週告訴英國《金融時報》，他並不反對貿易，而是熱衷於鼓勵國際經貿往來。

However, echoing the arguments advanced by Mr Trump, he insisted any trade deals needed to be carefully structured to benefit the US.

然而，他呼應了特朗普的言論，堅稱任何貿易協定都需要從結構上精心設計，使其造福於美國。

Cutting our balance of payments deficit doesn’t mean slapping 45 per cent tariffs on everything from China, he said.

削減我國的國際收支赤字並不意味着對來自中國的所有商品徵收45%的關稅，他表示，

We should treat ourselves as the world’s biggest customer and treat nations that are selling to us as suppliers to us.

我們應把自己視爲全球最大客戶，把那些向我們銷售的國家視爲我們的供應商。