After the raid, South Korea’s President Lee Jae Jae had spoken of a “disturbing” incident that could have a deterrent effect on future investments in the United States. After the workers’ arrest, “South Korean companies would not be able to ask themselves whether the establishment of a factory in the USA is worth the potential risks,” said Lee.
At the announcement in the White House, Lutnick said that the step should no longer expect US companies to bring inexperienced employees into the country. From then on, you would have to ask yourself whether a job candidate was valuable enough for you to pay $ 100,000 in addition to his salary to the government. If not, you could hire American employees, said the minister.
The “Gold Card” had already announced Trump in February – with the current decree, the implementation goes into the next round. The new regulation is intended to allow wealthy foreigners to settle for one million dollars in the United States. For two million dollars per capita, companies can bring employees into the country in this way. Lutnick explained in a phone call with reporters, and first 80,000 of these cards were available. Trump wants to observe the program for a while and then “check whether prices and model are appropriate”.
In its rights, the “Gold Card” is similar to a “Green Card”, which regularly entitles you to stay in the USA. According to Lutnick, “Gold Card” owners could therefore also apply for citizenship after a certain time. The decree changes existing immigration categories. It is open whether this will be legally.
Also planned – but not yet as far as implementation – is a “Trump Platinum Card” that, according to Lutnick’s words, requires the consent of the congress. It should enable up to $ 270 days a year for $ 12 million-without having to pay US tax on income outside of the USA. However, the minister explained that a path to citizenship is not connected.
The government promises huge income from the two programs. The “Gold Card” program is expected to do more than $ 100 billion for the USA, said Lutnick. The “Platinum” program should even bring in around one trillion dollar. He left open about what periods these sums should come together. In any case, Trump gave no doubt about the meaningfulness of the campaign – on his platform Truth Social, he wrote in the style of a seller: “Now buy the Trump Gold Card”.
However, the Trump government is open to a back door: exceptions for individuals, companies or entire industries are possible-if the government recognizes a national interest in the use of certain specialists.
