Geithner vows to block protectionism

[OhioChick]

Source: Financial Times

April 7 2010 17:31

The US government has vowed not to harm India’s IT outsourcing sector as it battles to create jobs at home in the worst labour market since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, said during a two-day visit to India that protectionist measures to prevent jobs from migrating outside the country would do more harm to the US than good.

“We are not going to go down that path,” promised Mr Geithner. “We know that it would make us weaker, not stronger.”

He also said that the administration of Barack Obama, president, would not seek to curb the investments of US companies overseas as “our fortunes are tied with the world”. There have been proposals to trim the tax privileges of US companies that operate internationally.

“American companies are long in the world,” Mr Geithner told Indian business leaders at a discussion hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

“They are good at what much of the world needs. A huge part of the basic economic challenge we face is to give stronger in- centive for private investment, help support innovation and try to make sure there is more investment and stronger exports globally.”



Read more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/370f8d52-421b-11df-9ac4-00144feabdc0.html