Treasury Secy says Trump believes in 'reciprocal' free trade

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said that President Donald Trump, who has vowed to renegotiate various trade agreements, believes in reciprocal deals, amid concerns his administration may be considering new protectionist policies.
"The president believes in reciprocal trade deals, and reciprocal free trade. If our markets are open, there should be a reciprocal nature to other people's markets," he said.
He said the growth of the US is good for the world.
"If we can grow the US economy, that's not just good for the US worker, that's good for international growth and it creates opportunities," Mnuchin said during a conversation with Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, yesterday.

Trump, who came into the White House riding on a nationalistic agenda with his "America First" campaign, has vowed to drastically change decades of prevailing trade policy by renegotiating or - in some cases - scrapping trade agreements, and moving to bilateral trade agreements.
Mnuchin forecast a 3-per cent growth rate for the US.

"We have had an environment in the US that has not been particularly business-friendly coming out of Washington," he said, and narrated some of the key economic measures taken by the Trump administration in the first 100 days.
"We are poised, but we are in a geopolitical world, some type of event could happen, but I think we are positioned well," he said in response to a question from Lagarde at the conversion held on the sidelines of the annual Spring Meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

"One thing about the Trump administration, and the president, since he has been in office - we are approaching his first 100 days this week - he has reached out to literaly hundreds and hundreds of business leaders... And this administration is listening. There are a lot of good idea out there, and it is our job to unlock those best ideas, and make things work," he said.
"If you look at the tax code. We have a tax code that is just very uncompetitive for our US businesses. High tax rates. Worldwide income deferral. It is not a surprise we have trillions of dollars that has been left offshore," said the Treasury Secretary.

"And on the regulatory front, there is so much conflicting regulation that it is hard to sustain the economic growth we are looking for. But that is all in the process of changing," he said.