Trump team touts $8 billion Bayer investment
German-based Bayer AG has committed to President-elect Donald Trump that it will invest $8 billion in American research and development as part of its deal to acquire Monsanto, Trump’s transition team said Tuesday.
Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that Bayer will also protect all of Monsanto’s 9,000 American jobs while creating an additional 3,000 high-tech positions in the country. That agreement, he added, came after Trump met with CEOs from both companies last week.
In September, Bayer won shareholder approval for a $66 billion offer to buy seeds giant Monsanto, believed to be the largest all-cash company purchase ever. But the deal still faces regulatory hurdles in multiple countries, including in the United States.
In a joint statement, the two companies said the new jobs will focus on ways to “drive future innovation in agriculture” with positions like geneticists, data scientists and engineers. The companies added that the investment will go to both Monsanto’s St. Louis headquarters and other parts of the country.
“The United States is a global leader in agriculture, and the combination of Bayer-Monsanto will underscore that role and ensure the United States retains a pre-eminent position as the anchor of the industry,” the statement said.
“This is an investment in innovation and people that will create several thousand new high-tech, well-paying jobs after integration is complete, jobs that will keep America at the forefront of agricultural innovation and that serve U.S. farmers by delivering better products and services faster.”
Tuesday’s announcement far from the first time the Trump administration has pointed to promising news for American jobs as optimism about his incoming administration. Many announcements have come out of meetings with the president-elect, but Trump has received some criticism for taking credit when companies linked new job to Trump’s win when, in reality, they had already been public before his victory.
{mosads}Spicer insisted that the new jobs were as a result of Bayer’s faith in Trump’s new administration.
“This new domestic expansion has not been broadcast anywhere previously,” Spicer said.
“The reason for this commitment and expansion is because of the president-elect’s focus on creating a better business climate here in the United States, which has already increased consumer small biz confidence since the election,” Spicer said.
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