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Trump signs executive order on regulations

US President Donald Trump on Monday signed a new executive order mandating that for each new government regulation being enacted,…

Trump signs executive order on regulations

US President Donald Trump (PHOTO: AFP)

US President Donald Trump on Monday signed a new executive order mandating that for each new government regulation being enacted, two need to be revoked.

The order was in line with the new President's plan to slash regulations by as much as 75 per cent, as Trump believes the expanding body of government rules was stifling the US economy.

The president was surrounded by small business leaders as he signed the order in the Oval Office Monday morning.

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Trump says that the order was aimed at "cutting regulations massively for small business".

He said it will be the "biggest such act that our country has ever seen".

Earlier, White House officials called the directive a "one in, two out" plan. It requires government agencies requesting a new regulation to identify two regulations they will cut from their own departments.

The officials insisted on anonymity in order to detail the directive ahead of Monday's formal announcement.

A temporary regulations freeze was put in place on Trump's first day in office. The new executive action establishes the process for when the freeze expires.

"There will be regulation, there will be control, but it will be a normalized control," Trump told reporters.

The Obama administration was known for its regulatory zeal, expanding the Federal Register to 81,640 pages in 2016 and setting a record for the greatest number of regulations issued in a single day with 527 pages on November 17, 2016.

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