Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, has been tapped as Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, a position in which he’d have a key role in carrying out Trump’s plans to raise and enforce tariffs.
Trump made the announcement on his social media platform, Truth Social. In the post, Trump said Lutnick “will lead our Tariff and Trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative.”
Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration.
The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial.
An advocate for imposing wide-ranging tariffs, Lutnick told CNBC in September that “tariffs are an amazing tool for the president to use — we need to protect the American worker.” Trump on the campaign trail proposed a 60 per cent tariff on goods from China — and a tariff of up to 20 per cent on everything else the US imports.
