White House economic adviser does not see U.S. economic 'disaster' from coronavirus

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The coronavirus outbreak that began in mainland China will likely have some impact on U.S. supply chains, but the effects will probably not be catastrophic, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said in an interview with Fox Business Network.

The number of cases and deaths in the fast-spreading outbreak have continued to climb, spurring the United States to evacuate some of its citizens from China, issue a travel warning, and impose quarantines and a partial travel ban. Beijing has criticized the measures.

In the television interview, Kudlow played down the potential wider impact of the virus outbreak, saying: “It’s not a catastrophe. It’s not a disaster.”

“We’ve been through this before and I just think the impact is minimal,” he said later.

China is a key trading partner of the United States.

Kudlow said he thought the virus outbreak could spur business investment and lead to increases in production in the United States.

Asked if component shortages could be a result of the outbreak, Kudlow said: “Yes. To a point. It’s not across the board.”

“Chipmakers are not going to be affected that much. Pharmaceuticals probably will be affected much more. Some things are kind of in the middle, when you get to automobiles and auto parts.”

(This story has been refiled to fix background line to say China is a key trading partner)

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.