Wilbur Ross Lays out Plans to Commerce Staff

Ross told staff that the Commerce Department has been given more responsibility than ever before and with good performance the scope of the department will continue to expand.

First on the agenda is “rebalancing” the trade system that has gutted manufacturing, said Ross Commerce will play a major role in renegotiating bad trade deals like NAFTA. He quoted Benjamin Franklin, “Commerce among nations must be fair and equitable.”

Commerce will also play a key role in relieving American business of regulation that “has shifted American growth overseas and made us uncompetitive on the world stage.”

“For each regulation the government creates, we will eliminate two old ones,” said Ross.

Other challenges than cannot be neglected include:

• changed methodology for the 2020 census;
• launching more satellites for NOAA;
• getting FirstNet universally accepted;
• finding and auctioning more spectrum; 
• enforcing trade agreements;
• obtaining maximum sustainable yield for our fisheries;
• improving the timeliness, accuracy, breadth and depth of our data output;
• providing the expertise and capital necessary to spur growth and innovation in communities across America;
• setting standards for our increasingly technical society; and
• protecting intellectual property rights.

“One of the first steps in supporting these efforts will be securing adequate appropriations from the Congress. In a period of budgetary constraint, that will be a major challenge,” said Ross.