Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross sees a silver lining to the fatal coronavirus that’s infected thousands of people in China.
During an interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo on Thursday morning, Ross said that while he doesn’t “want to talk about a victory lap” regarding the disease, “the fact is it does give businesses yet another thing to consider when they go through their review of their supply chain.”
The Trump official ticked off other major disease outbreaks that originated in China over the past 20 years, such as SARS and African swine fever.
“Now you have this,” Ross said. “It’s another risk factor that people need to take into account.”
“So I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America,” he continued. “Some to U.S., probably some to Mexico as well.”
The BBC reported on Thursday that the coronavirus, a respiratory illness that originated in Wuhan, China in early January, has spread through every region in China, infecting over 7,000 people, and has reached at least 15 other countries globally, including the U.S.
The death toll in China has climbed to 170 as of Wednesday. There have been no recorded deaths outside the country so far.
Watch Ross below:
