This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The Australian businessman Donald Trump has chosen to head the American Manufacturing Council previously likened the US presidential campaign to reality television and described Trump as “an incredible marketer of the fantasy of what could be”.



The Dow Chemical chairman and chief executive, Andrew Liveris, was appointed to head the council during Trump’s Friday night rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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Liveris, a dual citizen, has held a range of business, government and academic appointments in both Australia and the US, including as co-chair of a separate manufacturing committee for Barack Obama.

The Australian foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, welcomed the appointment on Sunday.

“It is outstanding to see such a qualified Australian as part of Mr Trump’s team,” Bishop said.

In the role, Liveris will advise the US secretary of commerce on behalf of the council, which is the principal private sector advisory committee.

Darwin-born Liveris took to the stage and praised Trump, saying “I tingle with pride listening to you”.



“You’re paving the way with your administration, with your policies, to make it easier to do business in this country,” he said. “Not a red-tape country but a red-carpet country for American businesses.”

The comments struck a markedly different tone from those reportedly made at a Perth business event in March, when he likened the campaign to reality television.

Asked for an explanation of Trump’s campaign success, Liveris said successful presidents had been able to dominate the communication medium of their time.

“And now the presidential cycle is bringing us ‘the Kardashian presidency’,” Liveris said, according to Fairfax Media.

“I am not sure how big it is in Australia but reality TV has taken over what most Americans see and most people are disaffected with Washington and Wall Street, and a lot of things like that, and they look at reality TV and they imagine that life, and I think Donald Trump is an incredible marketer of the fantasy of what could be.”

Liveris has led Dow for 10 years and also serves on the board of IBM, the US President’s Export Council, the US Business Council and Australia’s Industry Growth Centres Advisory Committee.

He has advocated for the critical importance of manufacturing to the American economy and was co-chair of Obama’s Advanced Manufacturing Partnership.

He wrote a book titled Make it in America, which argues that the US economy should focus on advanced manufacturing.



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It was a theme Liveris returned to at the rally in Michigan, announcing that Dow would bring a research and development centre to the state.

“We’re going to add value by giving this incredible workforce in front of me, this incredible American worker, this incredible Michigan worker and we’re going to put you to work,” he said. “We could have waited, we could have put it anywhere in the world, several hundred jobs on top of the thousands.

“We’re not waiting, we’re going ahead. We’re going to use American hard work and American brains and we’re going to fight for the Dow company out of the USA.”



Liveris will also add another title to his lengthy CV, with Bishop announcing he would join the ranks of G’Day USA champions.



The G’Day USA program, which runs in January for its 14th year, brings together prominent people from sectors including the arts and business to promote Australia in the US.