- In a recent interview with CBC News, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick praised President Trump’s swift reversal of Canadian electricity tariffs and his tariff strategy, claiming it forced Canada to drop a 25% energy tax and countered fentanyl deaths (75,000 annually) and terrorism (75% of captures via Canada), while keeping steel and aluminum tariffs at 25% for national security.
- Lutnick dismissed market drops (stock market down 7%, Nasdaq down 14%) and recession fears, predicting Trump’s policies – balancing the budget, cutting $1 trillion in waste, and reciprocal tariffs starting April 2nd – will lower interest rates by 150 basis points, reduce energy and egg prices, and boost GDP via investments like Apple’s $500 billion.
- He outlined a vision of returning manufacturing to America, creating 5 million high-tech jobs paying $125,000-$300,000, doubling union labor, and eliminating taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security for those under $150,000 by making foreign entities pay, including $2 trillion from selling 400,000 green cards at $5 million each.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, in a recent interview with CBS News chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes expressed unwavering confidence in President Donald Trump’s economic strategies, particularly his use of tariffs to reshape trade and bolster American manufacturing. Lutnick recounted how the president swiftly reversed Canadian electricity tariffs targeting Michigan, New York, and Minnesota, noting that Trump “woke up this morning and he saw it and he just jumped right on it,” using tweets and calls to ensure the 25% tax was “off” by day’s end after Lutnick spoke with Ontario Premier Doug Ford. He dismissed the notion that this was a reaction to U.S. tariffs on Canada, instead tying those to national security concerns like fentanyl deaths – claiming 75,000 annual autopsy deaths in America – and terrorism, with “75% of terrorists that we’ve captured” entering via Canada, though he scoffed at Canada’s claim of seizing only 43 pounds of fentanyl, insisting “we know way more than that is coming.”
Lutnick defended Trump’s tariff approach as a negotiation masterstroke, arguing that threats like a potential 50% tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum – later withdrawn, keeping rates at 25% – force compliance, as seen when “the best dealmaker ever to sit in that chair” compelled Canada to back down. He outlined three tariff priorities: national security essentials like steel, aluminum, autos, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors; reciprocal tariffs starting April 2nd for “fairness in the world”; and bilateral trade deals to unleash American farmers and ranchers, citing India’s refusal to buy “a bushel of corn” despite selling to the U.S. He brushed off market volatility – despite a 7% stock market drop and 14% Nasdaq (^IXIC) decline – as a learning curve, insisting “the markets are going to learn” to trust Trump’s dealmaking, which he claimed delivers “the reasonable outcome that you would expect” rather than the “say a lot, do nothing” of past governments.
Addressing economic concerns, Lutnick rejected recession fears tied to an “aggressive trade war,” asserting that tariffs don’t cause inflation – only printing money does – and that Trump’s policies, like balancing the budget and cutting $1 trillion in waste with Elon Musk’s help, will lower interest rates by 150 basis points, slash energy and egg prices, and boost GDP by 1% per trillion dollars invested by firms like Apple ($500 billion) and TSMC ($100 billion). He blamed Biden’s “horrible numbers” for current woes, predicting a “greatest resurgence” under Trump, with no tax on tips, overtime, or Social Security, and a goal of no taxes for those earning under $150,000, funded by an “External Revenue Service” where foreign entities “pay a membership fee” to access America’s $20 trillion consumption market. On Canada’s auto industry, which Trump threatened to “permanently shut down,” Lutnick argued NAFTA devastated Michigan and Ohio workers, reducing life expectancy by seven years due to “despair” from lost jobs, and vowed Trump would reverse this by bringing factories home, creating 5 million high-tech jobs paying $125,000 to $300,000 annually.
Lutnick’s vision extends beyond tariffs to a reimagined America, where manufacturing returns – Eli Lilly’s (LLY) $40 billion plant and auto firms relocating in six months to a year – and union labor doubles, countering decades of outsourcing to Canada and Mexico for cheaper labor and union avoidance. He dismissed short-term pain as Biden’s legacy, not Trump’s intent, and proposed selling 400,000 green cards annually for $5 million each to raise $2 trillion, eliminating deficits and taxes on Americans while ending “tax scams” like Ireland’s $60 billion surplus from U.S. firms’ IP. Despite Cordes’ probing on market confidence, consumer fears, and recession risks flagged by Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS), Lutnick remained defiant, calling doubters “foolish” for betting against Trump, whose policies he believes will make “the stock market much, much higher” and deliver prosperity unseen in modern times, urging Americans to see chaos as strength and tariffs as patriotism.
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