Frederick Smith on trade policy
From 2019 Distinguished Leadership Awards - Frederick W. Smith, CEO of FedEx · · AtlanticCouncil
“We at FedEx were profoundly disappointed that the US administration ended our country's involvement with the trans-pacific partnership or TPP which was recently consummated by the eleven other countries. Our lack of participation puts American exporters at significant disadvantage. In the same vein the efforts to conclude the transatlantic trade and investment partnership also ceased shortly after the new administration took office. I strongly believe both of these decisions were unfortunate and I have had the opportunity to express that to the President himself.”
On , Frederick Smith, Former Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at FedEx, spoke about trade policy during 2019 Distinguished Leadership Awards - Frederick W. Smith, CEO of FedEx on AtlanticCouncil.
About Frederick Smith
Frederick Smith, founder and former CEO of FedEx, has continued to comment on trade, economic policy, and supply chain issues in public appearances. In a January 2023 conversation at MIT, Smith said he was personally disappointed by China's shift toward a "state directed Mercantile path" after he had pushed for its entry into the WTO. He also stated that "work is now optional" in the U.S., attributing inflation and slow growth to a lack of blue-collar labor willing to work. Smith expressed support for a carbon tax and said FedEx does not view Amazon as a direct competitor. In earlier appearances, Smith advocated for infrastructure investment, calling the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill "a step in the right direction." He said the U.S. should not abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership but improve it, and warned that withdrawal from NAFTA would have "massive repercussions." Smith has repeatedly called for lowering the U.S. corporate tax rate and adopting a territorial tax system, arguing that the current code discourages investment. He also stated that 85% of U.S. job losses over the past 25 years were due to automation, not trade.