Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin Talks Free Trade
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Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. Radio. News. Glenn Youngkin is here. I nearly got that out in one go. Good morning. Good morning. Thanks for having me. We sit here at the air show, and I've talked to you about this over the last few years. This is a really integrated industry, okay? A lot of the companies that are here are headquartered in your state. A lot of Virginians are here.

But it's a really integrated, this is a global industry. It's not a Virginia industry, it's not an American industry, it's a global industry, the aerospace industry. And a lot of people here are scratching their heads, wondering, therefore, what happens next in terms of trade? Can I continue to manufacture the aircraft that I manufacture with U.S. parts in them and European parts in them? Do you think there should be some exception made for this incredibly complex industry?

different industry that we see behind us here? Well, there's historically been arrangements around the world. Big agreements. I think one of the challenges that we're working through is how much of the content is in which countries and who's buying. And so I think that the next step here is first to understand the mapping of all those supply chains. And then second of all,

to see whether there can be an agreement that's reached. At the end of the day, I've been very supportive of the president's position that we need fair trade. And historically, across all the industries, the United States has really been at a disadvantage around the world with trade really being imbalanced. And so he's rebalancing these trade agreements

The result of that we're seeing in the Commonwealth of Virginia where so many companies now are coming to establish U.S. manufacturing. And the good thing is they're choosing Virginia to put it down. We've had $100 billion of commitments from companies to build and expand in Virginia. And we expect to continue to see that. So this long-term...

that has existed in aerospace for a long time, I think will be something that will be addressed. But at the heart of it is rebalancing some of these trade agreements. But this is a reasonably nuanced story here. This is an industry that is quite balanced. Boeing, headquartered in your state, exports a lot of airplanes around the world. You wouldn't want to see that put at a disadvantage. That company put it at a disadvantage. Kelly put it at a disadvantage when he tries to sell airplanes around the world, would you? Well, again, it's...

a matter of balancing around the world. And if we have open trade agreements with our partners, much of this is done on a bilateral basis with the current administration, then it'll settle out. And if we have certain partners that aren't willing to do that, then it'll be more difficult. Do you think it's the reason? It appears at the moment that if you buy lots of Boeing...

headquartered in Virginia, do you get a good trade deal? Yes. Is that a reasonable kind of thing to talk about? Yeah, if you're, as an American, yes. I mean, I think one of the real opportunities is for America to recognize, and this is exactly what President Trump is doing, is that access to the U.S. market is really important to companies around the world, and therefore we want fair trade with all of our counterparties, and to date it has not been very fair, and so they're rebalancing that. And I think this is exactly what

all the industries are seeing today. And we hear the same thing in the automotive industry and others, that it is complicated in supply chains. Well, over time, as things settle down and we can see President Trump reaching deals like he's reached with the UK, that we will see fair trade. And when that fair trade is set, then we'll see industries like the aerospace industry settle into it. Let's talk a little bit more about Boeing, headquartered in Virginia.

Makes a lot of airplanes in Seattle though. And I'm wondering whether or not increasingly there is an argument that says Boeing should be headquartered in Seattle, in Washington, not in Virginia. Can you kind of see the logic of that? Well, I also see the logic of their very, very large company, customer being the Pentagon, which happens to be in Virginia. And where they had a huge win just recently as the prime on the new F-47, which is the next generation fighter aircraft.

for the military. And so, I think what Boeing has recognized is that one, they have the best workforce in the world in Virginia, and so they tap into that for all of their corporate functions. They have great access to their customer. And I know that the flights from Dulles to Seattle are busy as their senior executives move back and forth between Washington and Washington. - Yes. Just confusing for the rest of us. - Yeah.

But isn't there an argument that says you need to be close to the shop floor? Yes, the customer is in the Pentagon, but the lesson we've learned is be close to the shop floor. So I spoke to Kelly when he came on as the new CEO. We had this very candid discussion. He says he's very comfortable with the headquarters being in Virginia, but he personally was going to spend an enormous amount of time with the commercial aerospace business as he set that right. And that's exactly what he's done.

And yet their defense business has been growing, not to mention the fact again that this F-47 win is a big one for them. OK, you bring up defense, so let's just kind of talk about defense for just a second. Again, it comes back to the same argument. Should Europe be buying more U.S. defense in order to balance the books?

I think the US defense industry would very much like for them to. But is that a way to get over the trade agreement disagreement that we have at the moment? I think it's one of the tools in the toolkit, once again, to balance the trade. And when you have large trade imbalances, where we are, in fact, buying a lot more in the United States from countries than they're buying from us, it's one of the tools in the toolkit. And I do think

that the defense military complex has the most advanced military capabilities in the world. And so I think that what we're seeing is the collaborations between US companies and particularly European countries. I've had a lot of meetings in the last two days

has never been better right now. And in fact, what I think is happening is the European and international companies are really moving into the United States with breakneck speed. Because what they're hearing from the Pentagon is we want to do more and we want to do it faster.

And so we need more robust supply chains that can deliver what we need faster. And a lot of the international companies are starting to come into the United States, either through a proxy arrangement or with partners in order to try to meet that demand. Before I throw it back to Danny, you're term limited.

A cabinet job maybe next year? I'm going to finish strong in Virginia, and then we'll see what happens. I think one of the great things that I have realized is I don't need to worry about this every day. I'm focused on the Commonwealth. And Virginia is really roaring. We've just touched through $100 billion of capital commitments from companies. We have more people working than ever. We're running our fourth straight year of another big surplus, which has allowed us to reduce tax burdens and make big investments. Yep.

The state's doing extraordinarily well, and I've just loved the job I've had, and I can't wait to finish strong. And so I've got to do that over the next year. Balanced budgets, they're amazing things. Glenn, great to see you. Governor, thank you very much indeed for joining us. Great, thank you.

Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia. Switch to Verizon Business and get more from your internet without paying more for your internet. Get LTE Business Internet starting at $39 a month when paired with select business mobile plans. That's unlimited data and with it, unlimited possibilities. Start saving today with Verizon Business. Ranked number one in small business internet customer satisfaction by J.D. Power.

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