The main goal of President Donald Trump’s new H-1B visa policy is not to rely on long-term foreign labor but to bring skilled foreign workers to the United States temporarily so they can provide high-skill training to Americans, Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said.
In an interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, Besant described Trump’s new H-1B policy as a “knowledge transfer” initiative.
He said the initiative is designed to revitalize America’s manufacturing sector.
“For the last 20 to 30 years, we’ve been sending certain manufacturing jobs overseas. We can’t suddenly start building ships or modern technology. We want the semiconductor industry to come back to America. There will be big factories in Arizona for that,” Besant said.
“I think the president’s vision is to bring skilled foreign workers here for three, five or seven years so they can train American workers. Then they’ll go back home, and American workers will take full responsibility for the work,” he added.
“We haven’t made ships or semiconductors here in years,” Besant said. “The real success is having foreign partners come here and train American workers.”
He added that Trump’s new strategy for the H-1B visa program is essentially the Republican president’s goal of bringing back critical industries to the country and reducing import dependency.
In the interview, Besant also touched on the Trump administration’s economic agenda. He confirmed that discussions are underway on a possible $2,000 tax credit for American families earning less than $100,000 a year.
Besant said that the Trump administration’s goal is to create an economy where Wall Street (big business) and Main Street (ordinary people) thrive together. He also believes that keeping America’s financial markets stable and strong is essential to making this plan a success.
