realistic? >> shipping out. the push to manufacture more goods in america means ports around country will be busier than ever. and in need of investment. >> shortage of workers. half a million high-tech jobs cannot be filled by americans. is there a national fix for a problem plaguing manufacturers? those stories and more tonight on nightly business report for thursday, february 23rd. good evening, everyone. >> welcome, everyone. treasury secretary steven mnuchin gave a target date for tax reform, august. that could be a key reason why he is predicting the u.s. economy will see a growth boom, not immediately but down the road. the person many charge of overaove overhauling the tax code and remaking the regulations is a former goldman sachs banker. he bought a bank from the federal government in 2009.

he has financed more than 100 hollywood films. but his current task at the treasury department is complex, more than any film could be and could run into opposition from lawmakers. in a wide ranging interview today, secretary mnuchin told becky quick that the white house and both chambers of congress are all working together. becky began by asking him about the one issue that investors like you want to know more about. tax reform. >> our economic agenda, the number one issue is growth and the first most important thing that will impact growth is a tax plan. so we are committed to pass tax reform. it will be very significant. it's going to be focused on middle income tax cuts, simply if i indication and making the business tax competitive with the rest of the world, which has been a big problem and a lot of reason why companies are leaving and cash is sitting offshore. that's really our focus. we want to get this done by the august recess. we have been working closely with the leadership in the house

and the senate. and we are working on a combined plan. >> we have seen regulatory reform start. do you think we would see 3% plus gdp by next year? >> i think it's going to take time to get there. so i think it would be more towards the -- see the growth towards the end of next year. by the time we pass reform, see the impact on the economy, see the impact of regulation. it's going to take into next year to see an engine of growth. >> do you agree with the bordered ajuborder ed adjustment tax that needs to be involved in tax reform? >> we're looking closely at the issues on the border adjusted tax. have i spoken with paul ryan and with chairman brady on this. we're looking at it. we think there's interesting aspects of it. we think there are some concerns about it. we are all committed to do is make sure there sis a combined plan that's the administration's plan with the support of the house and the senate that we're all working together on one plan

that gets passed. >> in november, you said that even if wealthier people get a tax break, it's not going to be that they necessarily are paying less in taxes because the deductions, the loopholes will be closed as a result. do you stand by that now that you are actually in the administration and in your position as treasury secretary? >> there's been a lot of comments on that. i think there's a rule. i think during my confirmation it got named the mnuchin rule. we're focused on a middle income tax cut and simply if i indication for business. on high end, if there are tax cuts that they are offset with reduction of deductions and other things. it's something we're going to carefully look at. >> a huge issue people have been squirrelling around, it's hard to say where the administration stands on it, but you have been committed to housing finance reform. can you tell us how you come down on that and what sort of time frame we should expect? >> we had a very good

conversation. we have talked about the various different issues. i think as i said before, i'm committed that under this administration we're going to have housing reform so that we don't just leave these entities the way they are. they have been sitting there for too long of a period of time. and we need a solution. we're going to look at this. i think this will be one of the areas where hopefully we will have a bipartisan solution. we have a team internally that we have assigned. this is something we're going to study carefully. i don't think you are going to see something right away from us. whereas, tax reform sis a near-trm issue. this is on the agenda. we have a lot of things to do here. >> it's a long do list and one of the market is following closely. he says he will be watching the market's reaction because he sees it as a score card reflecting what the public think about the administration's efforts. i'm becky quick from washington, d.c. >> that interview was the talk

of investors. it's the expectation of tax reform and infrastructure spending that has helped lift the stock market. today the dow jones industrial average closed at its tenth straight record. the nasdaq lost 25 and the s&p 500 was up just about a point. stocks got off to a rocky start today. the market focused on just a few of the comments made by the treasury secretary. sg >> the stock market had several problems. the s&p opened at a new high but gave up gains and moved into negative territory early in the morning. most importantly, bank stocks were among the weakest sectors. traders chose to focus on mr. mnuchin's comment that he wanted tax reform to pass by the august recess, which many doubt could happen. there seems to be a sense that reforms will take longer than many had anticipated. with mr. mnuchin saying growth would come towards the end of

next year, a time period likely further out than traders anticipated. there was also some concern that mr. mnuchin's emphasis on middle income tax cuts first meant that corporate tax cuts may not be as great as anticipated. tech and industrial stocks, which would be a big beneficiary of cut were weaker on the day. traders raised their eyebrows on mr. mnuchin's acknowledgement that the stock market rally has been a report card on the trump administration, implying that the market had given the president essentially an a. this is an extraordinary claim for a treasury secretary which had been historically neutral on markets, particularly something as sensitive as stocks. and the dollar. it's also a very dangerous game to be playing since if you live by the stock market, you can die by the stock market. >> rising interest rates are

apparently not slowing down home prices. a new report from the federal housing finance agency shows an increase of more than 6% in the fourth quarter of last year from the year prior. some of that increase is due to a lack of listings on the mark, which shows no signs of letting up. the states with double digit home price increases include, oregon, colorado, florida and washington. >> the strong job market is also contributing to the rise in home prices. today we learned that the number of americans filing for unemployment benefits rose 6,000 last week, slightly more than expected. but despite the rise, the four-week average remains at its lowest level since 1973. sg >> the issue of jobs topped at again da agenda at the white house today. the president met with big corporations to share ideas on how to bring jobs back to the u.s. >> thank you, everybody. please sit down.

>> reporter: president trump welcomed two dozen of the country's leading manufacturing executives to the white house today to tackle everything from job creation to tax reform. the president was clearly in his comfort zone. >> there's nothing like what you do. the caterpillars are the best. when we raise the dollar and we let other people manipulate their currency, it's the one thing that stops you dead. right? >> we will take them on. bring them on. >> technology -- but we have to give you a level playing field. >> trump's pro business approach was lauded by many executives including dow chemical's ceo. >> it was a very much a working session today following a month ago when we first met with the president. needless to say, we in the manufacturing sector, all the ceos, are very encourage by the pro business policies of president trump and his ka ccab. some of us said this is the most pro-business administration since the founding fathers. >> they were broken up into four working groups, hashing out ideas on taxes, trade,

regulatory reform, infrastructure and what the white house called the work force of the future. the white house granted us access to the meeting as the president's daughter sat in on the last session along with billionaire wilbur ross, the president's pick for commerce secretary. ivanka's husband worked the rooms with mike pence who asked the ceos for specific suggestions. it wasn't all agreement. at one point two ceos squared off onarder adjustment tax. one saying it could create jobs but another saying it could threaten 42 million jobs. an overall sentiment of optimism. >> it was a great meeting. lots of good discussion. >> any specific takeaway? >> we will let the president talk about that. a lot of talk on regulation, tax reform, trade, education. it was really great. >> you can expect to hear more from this manufacturing council here in washington. the president said he would like to hear back from them in two months.

>> dow chemical ceo tackled that issue of the future of the work force post-meeting with president trump. he says there has to be a systemic fix to address the shortage of workers for jobs that require a background in science, technology, engineering and math, known as stem. >> we have supply site issues today. half a million stem jobs we can't fill. we need to fill them with americans. we need to do that as a priority. the next several years, three to 5 million new jobs, even without the pro-growth policies of president trump. there will be more jobs to fill. >> is there a national fix to address this issue? one that will help employers fill those high-tech jobs in the years to come. the associate director of georgetown university's center or education and the work force, welcome, good to have you with us. a lot of people point to deficits in the american

education system as one of the explanations why there are jobs that cannot be filled with american workers, high-tech jobs in stem most especially. does the american education system need to be disrupted? if so how and by whom? >> you know, we have been thinking and talking about this project and problem for a long time. there's been a lolt of emphasis on trying to get more students into stem. it's been succeeding a little bit. the problem is that a lot of the students aren't completing. so the overall increase in students who are graduating from degrees in stem has been pretty -- not so meaningful. it hasn't increased much. >> why aren't they finishing? is it too hard? >> big washout rates. less emphasis on really getting them through. big emphasis on getting them in but not on getting them out. that's been a problem at a lot of universities for a long time. >> there are companies -- i have spoken with some of them that

say in order to fill their own skills gap, they have started getting them earlier and earlier into apprenticeship programs. they are going to high schools and offering them paid apprenticeships along with high school credit. they say, we go to 16 high schools, we accept all seven students who apply. why isn't there more interest at a younger level in these jobs that are great paying and they're great paying often right out of high school if you can get the technical education? >> you know, the growth in the apprenticeship programs in the united states has been very limited. i was reading data today that it's grown over the last few years from 375,000 to 505,000 students in apprenticeship programs. half a million people in apprenticeship programs in a country with a work force of over 140 million. that's not very meaningful. it's not a big advance so far. it's something that we need to emphasize and do more of. the other thing i think we need to do more of is not emphasize

so much graduate degrees and bachelor degrees in stem fields but more certification and licenses in fields related to technology and science. we haven't done enough of that either. >> what's the best thing we could do to play catch up? >> probably the best thing that we could do right off the top is to emphasize that exactly what you were saying a few minutes ago, which is a lot of these -- a lot of these jobs don't require a lot of education beyond high school. and a lot of people simply don't believe it. we have not done a good job of advertising these programs. we have not a good job of recreating students to these programs and making them understand that you can get out of high school, work for a couple of years as an apprentice and get into these fields. that would be a great thing. frankly, it's going to take a while to build up the infrastructure around that. >> thank you for the conversation. very helpful. >> thanks for having me.

>> still ahead, as president trump pushes for more companies to make more goods in america, and send them overseas, that creates the need for investment, expansion and opportunities at our nation's ports. we will take you to the port of charleston where the issue is a holt topic. carlos guin will step down at ceo. he will remain chairman of the japanese auto company and will focus on the alliance. he led nissan for nearly two decades and rescued it from near collapse. >> as president trump pushes for

america to manufacture and export more goods, ports are preparing to become busier. in south carolina, that means a major investment to handle the growing number of companies s p shipping. more now from the port of >> reporter: watch how quickly cargo is loaded anden lo eunloa. you see why it's the tenth busiest port in the country. as manufacturers like boeing expand and build even more product in south carolina, the port needs to grow. >> most of the foreign direct investment in manufacturing we believe will be in the southeast. so we have to invest in existing facilities and new facilities and our harbor. so that we can handle big ships that will carry that traffic. >> right now they are in the midst of a $2.3 billion expansion because it's busier than ever. looking down from this crane as they unload a cargo ship here

with 6700 containers, you can see how quickly they are moving. this container weighs about 44 tons. even as container traffic grows, charleston has become even busier shipping out suvs. these are from bmw, the company exported more than a quarter million from the u.s. last year. all built three hours north of charleston in spartanburg, south carolina. the plan is bmw's largest in the world. as donald trump pushes to have companies build more in the u.s., the german automaker is investing a billion dollars in the plant to make it more efficient. the port of charleston will soon be adding more vehicles it will export, as volvo opens a plant in south carolina. >> logistics, availability of skilled labor. we need a port close by. i think also very positive business orientation from that administration. >> a rising tide of exports in a

harbor focused on the growth of made in the usa products. >> lending tree tops estimates. that's where we begin tonight's mark us focus. the company which provides a marketplace nor loans topped its own expectations and said results were helped by an increase in loan requests and strong demand for company's non-mortgage products. lending tree said it sees this quarter's revenue above expectations. shares rose 9% to $122.25. hormel said low turkey prices pressured results in the latest quarter saying that's expected to hinder future performance. the maker of spam and muscle milk cut its full year earnings output. revenue did come in slightly above target. shares fell 5% to $35.29. medical device maker boston scientific said it was recalling its lotus heart valve after

reports of a manufacturing issue. the company said it plans to return the product to its european markets in the fourth quarter. it's not approved for use in the united states. shares fell almost 3% to $24.48. >> the online home furnishing retailer wayfair reported a loss. it was better than expected as the company benefits from an increase in active customers and deliveries. revenue also toppedest malts. company did issue a soft sales outlook for the current quarter. that sent shares lower by 6.5%. this finished at $38.58. >> kohl's increased its dif dividend. it sees same sales coming in belowest malts. shares off. gap has strength in the old navy brand help eed results.

the revenue topped expectations. shares initially rose in after hours trading but ended the regular session down more than 3% to $23.98. hewlett-packard said weak sales in its enterprise growth caused revenue to fall. profit did beat wall street's targets. the tech company slashed its earnings outlook for the full year citing pressure from exchange rates, higher commodity pricing and near-term execution issues. shares fell and also ended the regular trading day down a fraction at $24.66. >> as we have been reporting, a major theme of the administration is jobs. today that was a key discussion point between the president and a number of ceos. when it comes to bringing jobs back home, there's one country in the cross hairs. china. we talked to chinese workers in the factory town of xashing.

>> donald trump and his supporters have been critical of china for supposedly stealing american jobs. in this town, chinese workers see things very differently. >> translator: i don't think trump is correct. american companies come to invest here. they reap rewards and we do. it's a win/win. >> translator: many business people open factories. they are thriving. trump demand they go back that could hurtchinese, a lot of jobs have lifted people out of poverty. the reason why this country gained wealth. to some, that doesn't mean americans have lost out. >> translator: chinese people work very hard. what we do at the factories takes long hours and other people despise doing it. so i don't think we are stealing anyone's jobs. >> they worry jobs will move to other low cost countries. they are brushing up on their skills.

>> translator: doing business is essentially all about competition. >> a message they hope will be heard in the white house. >> the robot revolution. will the workplace as we know it soon be a thing of the past? the future of the workplace also includes robots as some become more automated.

that has many employees concerned that they will one day be replaced by machines. i have seen them, robot news anchors. a few startups -- >> sitting next to one. >> you are a robot? a few startups have something else in mind. they want workers and robots just to get along. they are known as cobots for now. >> the market for collaborative robotics is expected to reach $12 billion by 2025. we will see them across industries. not just manufacturing, people will increasingly be working with robots in hospitals where they are doing tasks such as dispensing medicine. we think it uses human workers to show a robot what it needs to do for everything from building cars to teaching in classrooms. a range of robots are tackling ought ma automated checkout. lowe's lobots speaks multiple languages and knows where everything is on shelves. >> what people can expect is

that they will increasingly be working side by side with robots who may be giving them directions in some cases, who may be in many other cases taking the most sort of repetitive and repeatable activities that they do off their plate. >> lowe's hasn't used the row bolts to eliminate jobs but it eliminates simple tasks while employees focus on more complex ones like designing kitchens. a range of tech companies are looking to cash in on this trend. universal robotics as well as boston die name inynamics and o this robot to carry stuff. it's not all about working hand in hand with machines. these advancements will eliminate jobs. about 7% net job loss a year over a decade. that includes the gains in robotics jobs. some jobs will still require human minds. >> creative jobs actually over

the next ten years will be resilient because human imagination is very hard to ought mate. >> we will see if that changes and whether more jobs are threatened as robot technology improves. >> finally tonight, not only does the new treasury secretary want to overall the tax code, but he recently overhauled his signature. because his signed name will appear on all u.s. currency going forward. he didn't like the way it was looking. here it is, the one on the left is his former signature. totally illegible. in it the interview today, he revealed the new and improved version which you can see right there on the right. steven t. mnuchin. >> you can read the one on the rig right. mine has gone the opposite direction. >> have a great evening. we will see you tomorrow. >> nightly business report has been funded in part by --

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for several centuries, scotland was ruled from london. parliament hadn't met here since 1707. recently, the scots voted to bring their parliament home, and london didn't object. in the year 2000, edinburgh resumed its position as home of scotland's parliament. scotland's strikingly modern parliament building opened in 2004. the catalan architect enric miralles

mixed bold windows, wild angles, and organic themes into a startling complex that would, as he envisioned, "surge from out of the rock and into the city."

>> this is "bbc world news america." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newman's own foundation, giving all profits from newman's own to charity and pursuing the common good, kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs, and aruba tourism authority. >> planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. you can find it here in aruba. families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the island with warm, sunny days, cooling trade wi a