3M CEO blasts Obama as anti-business - FT

Major U.S. manufacturer 3M Co Chief Executive Officer George Buckley attends a news conference in Tokyo August 23, 2010.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The chief executive of diversified manufacturer 3M Co called U.S. President Barack Obama anti-business in an interview with the Financial Times, arguing that manufacturers could move to Canada or Mexico as a result.

"We know what his instincts are -- they are Robin Hood-esque," 3M CEO George Buckley told the paper. "He is anti-business."

Obama is working to shed the reputation that he is against the business community. Earlier this month, he assembled a group of top U.S. executives, chaired by General Electric Co (GE.N) Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt, to advise him on economic matters.

He also brought on JPMorgan Chase executive William Daley as his chief of staff and made a high profile speech to the Chamber of Commerce, a business lobby, earlier this year.

But Buckley said he was not yet convinced by Obama's actions.

"Politicians forget that business has choice. We're not indentured servants and we will do business where it's good and friendly. If it's hostile, incrementally, things will slip away. We've got a real choice between manufacturing in Canada and Mexico -- which tend to be pro-business -- or America," he told the Financial Times.

A 3M spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Bernard Orr)