3M CEO blasts Obama as anti-business-FT

NEW YORK | Sun Feb 27, 2011 7:41pm EST

NEW YORK Feb 27 (Reuters) - The chief executive of diversified manufacturer 3M Co (MMM.N) called U.S. President Barack Obama anti-business in an interview with the Financial Times, arguing that manufacturers could move to Canada or Mexico as a result.

"We know what his instincts are -- they are Robin Hood-esque," 3M CEO George Buckley told the paper. "He is anti-business."

Obama is working to shed the reputation that he is against the business community. Earlier this month, he assembled a group of top U.S. executives, chaired by General Electric Co (GE.N) Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt, to advise him on economic matters.

He also brought on JPMorgan Chase executive William Daley as his chief of staff and made a high profile speech to the Chamber of Commerce, a business lobby, earlier this year.

But Buckley said he was not yet convinced by Obama's actions.

"Politicians forget that business has choice. We're not indentured servants and we will do business where it's good and friendly. If it's hostile, incrementally, things will slip away. We've got a real choice between manufacturing in Canada and Mexico -- which tend to be pro-business -- or America," he told the Financial Times.

A 3M spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment. (Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Related Quotes and News

Company
Price
Related News
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (1)
frankz00 wrote:
He’s only anti-business if your name isn’t Monsanto. They need to try their hand at controlling the food supply and they might fare better…

Feb 27, 2011 11:50pm EST  --  Report as abuse
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.