Tue Nov 19 20:55:22 UTC 2024: ## Trump Nominates Hardline China Hawk Lutnick as Commerce Secretary

**Washington D.C.** – President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Howard Lutnick, co-chair of his transition team, as the next Secretary of Commerce. The appointment signals a significantly tougher stance on China from the incoming administration.

Lutnick, CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, will oversee the nation’s tariff and trade agenda, including direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative. This appointment comes as Trump has reiterated his promise to impose sweeping tariffs on all imports.

Lutnick, a vocal Trump supporter, has publicly advocated for a 60% tariff on Chinese goods and a 10% tariff on all other imports – proposals previously floated by Trump himself. This aligns with Trump’s stated aim to counter what he calls years of unfair trade practices by other countries. His previous term saw a significant tariff war with China.

Lutnick’s criticisms of China extend beyond trade. He has blamed China for the influx of fentanyl into the United States and described China as “attacking America from its guts.” He has also expressed concern over the loss of American manufacturing jobs to China and dismissed electric vehicles as “coastal elite nonsense.”

While initially considered a frontrunner for Treasury Secretary, Lutnick’s nomination to the Commerce Department places him at the helm of a department with a crucial role in bolstering American industry, particularly in the semiconductor sector and reducing reliance on Asia. This suggests a potential intensification of the Biden administration’s efforts to control the export of critical technologies to adversaries like China.

The nomination has received support from unexpected corners, including Trump’s health secretary pick, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Elon Musk, who has been tapped by Trump to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency. Musk praised Lutnick as a necessary change from “business-as-usual” politics.

Lutnick’s personal history includes the tragic loss of hundreds of Cantor Fitzgerald employees in the 9/11 attacks. He narrowly avoided the tragedy himself. Beyond Cantor Fitzgerald, he also leads BGC Group and Newmark Group.

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