Certain policies being proposed by President Donald J. Trump’s administration, including trade agendas, immigration, deportation, and border tax were topics of conversation at the World Petrochemical Conference by IHS Markit, held recently in Houston, Texas.
Dave Barron
Panel moderator and IHS Markit oil, mid-downstream and chemical vice president Lyn Tattum invited panelists participating on an executive panel titled “Building a Foundation for Profitable Growth in Uncertain Markets,” Bob Patel and Wayne Smith shared their companies’ perspective on these topics.
Patel, chief executive officer and chairman of management board at LyondellBasell and a board officer for the American Chemistry Council, said that he had recently attended a business roundtable in Washington, D.C. that had also been attended by United States Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) and U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX).
“My takeaway from that, and from a recent American Chemistry Council meeting, is that there’s definitely an orientation around the business,” Patel said.
“We’ve already seen some action on the regulatory side, which I think will be favorable for getting feedstocks to market in the United States. We’ll have to watch and see how it evolves."
Dave Barron
Patel
Patel said he believes that the “general tone” is that less regulation is better.
Regarding taxes, Patel said that corporate tax cannot be separated from the border adjustment.
“There’s going to be sort of a collection of tax topics that will go together,” he said. “Ultimately, my sense has been from my engagement with leaders that we will be pragmatic at the end of the day.”
Patel added that he thinks everyone understands that global trade is important for the United States’ economy.
“We’re watching with great interest, and we have hope that many things will be better,” he said.
BASF Corporation chairman and chief executive officer Wayne Smith observed that, most generally, corporate tax reform in the United States, increased infrastructure spending, and less regulation are net positives for the petrochemical industry and its businesses.
Dave Barron
Smith
“The tricky topic is trading,” he said. “This can have different impacts on different companies. We all operate global, complex supply chains. So to a certain degree, we simply have to wait and see.”
Smith referred to Charles Darwin, who famously said: “Those who adapt, survive.”
For more information, visit www.wpc.markit.com, www.lyondellbasell.com, and www.basf.com.
