US PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump nominated Howard Lutnick, the co-chair of his transition team, as his commerce secretary.
Lutnick has previously said that America can only “become a great country again” if Ireland stops “running a trade surplus at our expense”.
It’s a hint at what the next Trump presidency could mean for Ireland.
A trade surplus exists when one country exports more than it imports.
Lutnick will lead the country’s tariff and trade agenda, with “additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative,” Trump said in a statement.
His appointment is also expected to bring a tougher stance on China from the incoming administration.
It’s nonsense that Ireland of all places runs a trade surplus at our expense. We don’t make anything here anymore—even great American cars are made in Mexico. When we end this nonsense, America will be a truly great country again. You’ll be shocked!
— Howard Lutnick (@howardlutnick) October 16, 2024
At a mid-election cabinet meeting this morning, Taoiseach Simon Harris is expected to brief ministers on economic security in the context of geopolitical instability.
Many party leaders have expressed the need for a more protected economic model in Ireland since the election of Trump.
Cabinet, who will take up a caretaker role after the election, will hear that the Taoiseach expects the economic situation to be challenging in the near future. Harris will tell ministers that the next Government will need to protect the economy more.
This could include working with partners in the EU and in Ireland so the country is well positioned to mitigate any economic shocks. Harris will tell the Cabinet that an all-of-Government approach will be needed to make sure the economy is protected as a result.
Tariffs are a key part of Trump’s economic agenda and he has promised sweeping duties on all imports when he returns to the White House. The Commerce Department’s role will be aimed at boosting American industry.
Trump’s administration is expected to direct the Department to look at hardening the United States’ shift to becoming a large exporter of critical technology such as semiconductors and computer chips, to compete with Beijing.
Lutnick has also expressed support for a tariff level of 60% on Chinese goods alongside a 10% tariff on all other imports. Both are among proposals that Trump has floated, with the Republican taking aim at countries which have been “ripping us off for years”.
In Trump’s first term he engaged in a tariffs war with China, with the US Trade Representative’s office issuing duties on imports from the world’s second-biggest economy.
Lutnick also previously lamented the loss of manufacturing jobs in the United States and offshoring to China.
Lutnick was initially tipped to head the Treasury Department but a tussle over the position spilled into the public eye last weekend.
Trump’s health secretary pick Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expressed support for Lutnick, saying on social media that “Bitcoin will have no stronger advocate” than him.
The world’s richest man Elon Musk also threw his support behind Lutnick for Treasury chief while calling the other top contender, hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, “a business-as-usual choice.”
“Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt, so we need change one way or another,” said Musk, who Trump has tapped to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency.
Lutnick recalls losing hundreds of employees in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, a tragedy narrowly he avoided as he was taking his son to school.
Besides Cantor Fitzgerald, Lutnick heads financial technology firm BGC Group and real estate services firm Newmark Group.
He graduated from Haverford College and has a degree in economics, according to his biography on Cantor’s website.
As co-chair of Trump’s transition team, Lutnick has been identifying new hires for the president-elect’s administration.
Additional reporting by Muiris O’Cearbhaill & Christina Finn
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