With the world grappling with the spread of coronavirus, the US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross believes that the deadly virus could prove beneficial for the American economy. Speaking to Fox News, the US secretary of commerce said, “I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America”. The epidemic has negatively impacted the Chinese economy and the global trade as well, which has fallen to supply chain disruption. In response to a question about whether the outbreak is a risk to the US economy, Ross said, “I don't want to talk about a victory lap over a very unfortunate, very malignant disease.” “The fact is, it does give business yet another thing to consider when they go through their review of their supply chain... So I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America,” he added. Secretary Wilbur Ross says coronavirus will be good for [checks notes] American jobs: "I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America." pic.twitter.com/Y4SbDIcTi4 — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 30, 2020 Coronavirus has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO), citing the reason that outbreak continues to spread outside China. Some 213 people in the China have died from the virus with almost 10,000 cases nationally. Meanwhile, the United States, Japan and other countries have tightened travel curbs to virus-hit China while businesses struggled with supply problems. “Do not travel to China due to novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan," the US State Department said, raising the warning for China to the same level as Afghanistan and Iraq. Whereas, major global companies too have announced to halt their operations in virus hit China. South Korea's Hyundai Motor said it planned to halt production of a sport utility vehicle this weekend to cope with a supply disruption caused by the outbreak. Sangyong Motor said it would idle its plant in the South Korean city of Pyeongtaek from Feb. 4-12 for the same reason. Home appliance maker Electrolux issued a similar warning and French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen said its three plants in Wuhan will remain closed until mid-February.