WASHINGTON — In an off-camera return to the lectern Monday — the first day of what the White House has dubbed “Made in America” week — White House press secretary Sean Spicer dodged questions about the Trump Organization and daughter Ivanka Trump’s companies manufacturing products overseas.
Asked if any of the Trump family brands will commit to no longer manufacturing goods abroad, Spicer said the president’s agenda focuses on making sure “all companies can hire here, can expand here, can manufacture here.”
On the Trump family’s companies, however, Spicer said, “It’s not appropriate for me to stand up here and comment about a business. I believe that is a little out of bounds.”
Spicer was also asked by a reporter Monday about the Trump administration’s “policy remedy” for companies like Ivanka Trump’s that claim it’s not possible to manufacture certain products in the U.S.
“I can’t answer that question, in the sense that I’m not — but I can tell you that it depends on the product,” Spicer said. “There are certain things that — certain industries that we don’t do as much anymore, and there are certain things that we do do more .... In terms of scalability, there are certain things that we may not have the capacity to do here, in terms of having a plant or factory that can do it.
“The beautiful thing about a capitalistic society is, if there’s enough of a demand for it, it will happen. And I think that’s what the president is trying to do. If you lower the tax rate, if you lower the regulatory burden, you will hopefully grow businesses and grow manufacturing.”
Many Donald Trump-branded products have been made in Mexico, Honduras, China and Bangladesh. And first daughter Ivanka Trump’s company relies on low-wage factories in Bangladesh, Indonesia and China, as The Washington Post reported last week.
Presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway famously advertised Ivanka Trump’s fashion line during a February appearance on Fox News, saying, “Go buy Ivanka’s stuff!”
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