OPINION:
It is safe to say that reindustrializing America is at the center of President Trump’s agenda. One of the challenges that agenda faces is whether the finance community will be an impediment or an accelerant to that effort.
A simmering example is Phillips 66. Phillips 66 employs more than 13,000 people, and millions of consumers — including households, manufacturers and small businesses — depend on the company’s products. Millions of investors depend on its financial strength and reliable returns. The company supplies U.S. military bases and export terminals and manages 72,000 miles of pipelines delivering gasoline, diesel and jet fuel across the country.
Unfortunately, there are financial folks, including private equity firms, who want to take over and dismember Phillips 66. Some of those people are trying to buy all or part of Citgo (owned by Venezuela), which is, of course, a competitor to Phillips 66. Owning and running two companies that make the same product seems like a conflict, probably because it would be a conflict.
Is it possible that finance dudes will buy both companies, break them into pieces, merge some parts and throw away the rest? That seems not only possible but also likely.
Team Trump is attuned to these sorts of problems. The Justice Department recently announced that it intends to launch a task force to examine anti-competitive laws and behaviors. Gail Slater, the assistant attorney general in charge of the antitrust division, probably should take a peek under the hood here and make sure everything is on the up and up. Additionally, the entire administration should maintain its general skepticism about breaking apart and/or selling iconic American companies that form the backbone of our industrial base (think U.S. Steel).
The reindustrialization project that is hopefully underway is an ambitious effort to restore what this country does best: building great companies that are the envy of the world. It requires long-term vision, leadership and a commitment to the brand, to doing the right thing in the right way every day. Fortunately, the president understands and has practiced this leadership for most of his life. The long-term goals of the administration will not succeed, however, if we do not encourage the enormously skilled financiers who populate our capital markets to consider the long-term value propositions for companies in the United States as much as they think about a quick buck.
Parts of those value propositions require time and patience to build strong, resilient, industrial businesses. They are part of what has made America great, what will ensure greatness in our future and what will help us create even more shared prosperity.
It is not an exaggeration to say Phillips 66 symbolizes American industrial might. Its efforts and innovation and those of its brethren oil and gas companies helped American soldiers, sailors and airmen win multiple wars. The products the company makes have sent generations rumbling across this land and helped farmers grow food for a hungry nation. Nowadays, through the export of liquefied natural gas, the company helps power the world.
In a world of uncertainty, the United States should not weaken its industrial energy base, especially not for something as transitory as fleeting financial gain that is likely to be concentrated in a few bank accounts in New York.
Keeping companies such as Phillips 66 intact and healthy is a matter of national interest.
• Michael McKenna is a contributing editor at The Washington Times.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.