On December 6th, President-Elect Donald Trump tweeted, "Masa (SoftBank) of Japan has agreed to invest $50 billion in the U.S. toward businesses and 50,000 new jobs...."
Naturally, Trump's supporters are claiming Masa's decision is a result of Trump's election. Of course, this is utter nonsense of course. Decisions of this large a scale don't happen overnight. They are the result of months, if not years of planning and negotiations and Trump knows it. But there's always a sucker born.
Here is the delicious irony of it all. Trump has repeatedly told companies like Carrier that there will be consequences if they move jobs out of the United States. By that logic, one could also argue that Masa is shipping jobs out of Japan. Shouldn't there be consequences for them? Not from where Trump sits. If those jobs are coming to this country then Trump couldn't be happier.
Like trade, foreign investment is a two way street. Yet Trump seems to determined to erect One Way Street signs on our soil. This is precious when you consider the fact that Trump has numerous holdings abroad. One could make an argument that by investing abroad he too shipped jobs out of the country. In other words, foreign investment for me but not for thee.
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