We do not love tariffs, in fact we would prefer not to use them, but after years of discussions and no action, tariffs are finally forcing China to pay attention to our concerns, we could have had a deal two-and-a-half years ago without going through the whole tit-for-tat on tariffs that we have.

Wilbur Ross

Categorized in : Business

We're in the business not so much of being contrarians deliberately, but rather we like to take perceived risk instead of actual risk. And what I mean by that is that you get paid for taking a risk that people think is risky, you particularly don't get paid for taking actual risk.

Wilbur Ross

mean people thinking

Banking, I would argue, is the most heavily regulated industry in the world. Regulations don't solve things. Supervision solves things.

Wilbur Ross

regulation banking world

What is worrisome about that is the U.S. standard of living. I think it is very difficult to envision our standard of living being preserved if we are in an economy where all people do is flip hamburgers, wait on people in stores, and sue each other. It’s not much of a basis for an economy.

Wilbur Ross

waiting people thinking

Shale gas, if left to flourish, could create several hundred thousand more jobs.

Wilbur Ross

gas hundred jobs

You cannot just keep borrowing more and more and keep spending more and more without eventually having a day of reckoning.

Wilbur Ross

borrowing reckoning spending

I see myself as a private-equity investor that helps rebuild companies. Restructuring is a cottage industry in that there aren't that many serious practitioners.

Wilbur Ross

cottages serious helping

Ships are a strange kind of commodity because they're very lumpy, very big individual units, but they're commodities.

Wilbur Ross

ships strange kind

I'm pro-trade, but I'm pro-sensible trade, not pro-trade that is to the disadvantage of the American worker.

Wilbur Ross

disadvantages trade sensible

Between the Community Redevelopment Act, requiring banks to make what I would call very weak loans, and specific quotas that the Congress imposed on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, that created the market demand that really led to the subprime phenomenon.

Wilbur Ross

quota demand community

There is a future for the auto parts industry, but it needs a consolidation and a rationalization of geography in that most suppliers have facilities in the U.S., although most of their customers are overseas.

Wilbur Ross

consolidation geography needs

Each weekend I play at least one and maybe two sets of tennis a day. My doubles team was in the finals recently at my tennis club in Palm Beach and lost a tiebreaker after a three-hour match. I must confess, by the end of the three hours, I was relieved it was over.

Wilbur Ross

weekend team beach

If you want to do something to destroy consumer spending, just eat away at the middle class because the other problem we have is the structural problem of middle class America.

Wilbur Ross

want class america

The Temporary General License extension will allow carriers to continue to service customers in some of the most remote areas of United States who would otherwise be left in the dark.

Wilbur Ross

technology

The question is, are they willing to commit to it? And if they are willing to commit, are there any escape hatches to the commitment?

Wilbur Ross

business

The devil is always in the details. And we're down to the last details now.

Wilbur Ross

business

There are enough problems with telephone service in the rural communities - we don't want to knock them out. So, one of the main purposes of the temporary general licenses is to let those rural guys continue to operate.

Wilbur Ross

top-news

We're hopeful that phase one will be the precursor of a much more robust set of agreements.

Wilbur Ross

top-news

If we resolve phase one, that will calm people down a lot because they'll see an end point is hopefully within sight.

Wilbur Ross

top-news

One (option) would be to say, 'I'm just not going to do anything', the second would be to impose tariffs on some or all (countries) .?.?. ?the third might be some other form of negotiation.

Wilbur Ross

company-news

Trade agreements historically have been very weak on enforcement, given the magnitude and the complexity of the changes we need, enforcement becomes an extremely critical component of any agreement that we make.

Wilbur Ross

business