Wilbur Ross suggests coronavirus will help bring jobs back to North America

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says he doesn't "want to talk about a victory lap" regarding the coronavirus outbreak. "But..."

Ross during a Fox Business appearance Thursday morning discussed the Wuhan coronavirus, the death toll of which has reached 170 as more than 7,700 cases have been confirmed in mainland China. While Ross said "every American's heart has to go out to the victims" and "I don't want to talk about a victory lap about a very unfortunate, very malignant disease," his thought didn't end there.

"But the fact is, it does give businesses yet another thing to consider when they go through their review of their supply chain," 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, some to U.S., probably some to Mexico as well."

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Host Maria Bartiromo, apparently unfazed by Ross' observation, quickly responded, "Ah, that's a good point, actually. Yeah."

The Washington Post notes that "White House officials so far have been careful in how they've talked about the economic implications of the health scare in China," but Ross? Not so much. Brendan Morrow