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Howard Lutnik on Place to Say The Common Secretary Howard Latinik joined US Now from Washington Day Say, mister secretary, welcome back to the program. So always appreciate your time. If we could just take a step back and set the table, what are the stakes for today's matting between you and Canight and officials.
Well, I think the stakes today if you take a look at.
It from the big picture, is the United States said we need to have steel and aluminum domestically in America in national security. You need medals to make bullets, you need metals to make munitions, you need metals to make everything. And Donald Trump is very focused on let's make sure the key ingredients that are necessary to defend America are made here in America. And these other countries they just don't pay attention. I mean, how many times do I
have to say national security isn't important? And if you do, like the EU, and you respond by putting a terrify on Kentucky bourbon, which used to piss off Mitch McConnell, which doesn't really matter anymore, you gotta wonder, really.
Really do I have to deal with this stuff. But alas we.
Do, miss the secretary, let's get to Europe in a moment. Let's just stay on Canada and then will work our way to the EU if we can. For the Canadians, as you know, they've put tariffs on around twenty one billion dollars of US goods. Well, that changed your approach to today's mating.
Well, I mean take a look at that again. Let's take a step back. National security. We put a tariffon stealing aluminum to make sure the dumping countries of the world stop and we can build up our stealing aluminum in America. And what does Canada do They put a tarifon sports equipment. I mean, really, this is just its tone death. Listen to the president national security matters. When he calls out things like semiconductors, he calls out pharmaceuticals,
he calls out autos. These are things that matter to us as a country. And if you're going to respond to us with sports equipment, you're just not listening to President Trump.
Savatary Lnik.
How much are the conversations today actually about bringing up the negotiations when it comes to USMCA.
Well, USMCA, we set aside USMCA. So the United States made a deal with both Mexico and Canada that said, if you have enough US content in certain products or it's actually made domestically, they can trade between our countries tax free.
That remains intact.
What is outside of that is both things that don't have that American content that are imported from other countries.
So that has a tarrify on it.
And now the President has said, look, there are certain topics I need to have us make in America, and steal aluminum is key.
I mean, we all understand that.
So why not allow the greatest country in the world who completely feeds Canada. Canada exists completely feeds off of the amazing economy of the United States of America. Let us build up our steel and aluminum so that we can protect ourselves.
And by the way, we.
Protect Canada, I think Canada's got sixty planes. Oh yeah, they're really gonna protect themselves. They're really They're the lowest investor in NATO. They totally rely on us, and yet they think they need to respond to stealing aluminum tariffs. I mean, everybody is so used to picking off America, so used to it.
If they can't even stop.
Donald Trump is here to say, we need to be treated fairly, and we need to be treated fairly.
Now do you think this approach, if you articulate this to the Canadians today, will help bring down the temperature?
I do.
I think once you actually breathe and think steal and aluminum. American needs steal in aluminum. I mean, if you respond like the British didn't respond, the Mexicans didn't respond, you have some countries that actually thoughtfully examine how they do business with us. And then you have people like the Canadians who are in elections, so you have no idea. You think it's about a trade war. This is their
way of getting election votes. And the EU, you know, the EU is just so many years treated us so harshly. They just can't stop. Look, their tariffs are way up here and our tariffs are down here. How about relax. Let us balance it. We are your largest most important trading partner. Treat us with respect, and let's get a little balance. And Donald Trump is out there saying balance, balance, Balance. April second, he's going to describe his balance. We're going
to do it together. We're going to describe our trading policy. We're going to describe our balance. But remember semiconductors we need to have him in America, Pharmaceuticals we need to have in America. Cars we need to have in America. And steal in aluminum come on America. Oh and lumber as well.
And want of champagne.
Things for our national security.
And the one of champagne.
So don't forget the why champagne this?
Come on, that's just that, you know, if you make him unhappy, he responds unhappy. But come on, let's get back to the core basics here, which is a trading policy that says America has allowed the world to lean on us, to take from us, to grow off of us, and now it's time for a little balance. We've got a two trillion dollar budget deficit. We want to bring certain jobs home. Let the President do the right thing for America.
He will respond after.
We're done organizing things to make sure the world grows. But today, just remember he's the president of the United States of America. He's not the president of the world. He's going to take care of American workers, and it.
Is time, missed the secretary. I just want to make sure that the audience is in on our little joke there because they might have missed the post forb the President a couple of minutes ago. So I'm going to share it with them and then come back to you
in just a second. So the President of the United States put this out on truth social moments ago, said the European Union, one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the world, which has formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States, has just put a nasty fifty percent tariff on whiskey.
If this tariff is not removed immediately, the United States will shortly place a two hundred percent tariff on all wines, champagnes, and alcoholic products coming out of France and other EU represented countries. So, missus Secretary, just to bring you in, I imagine you are aware of what the President said based on our conversation just now. Have you given the Europeans a warning on this? Have you're given them a
time limit to back away? You've taken the same approach you did with the Canadians just a few days ago.
Well, I think the President has made it crystal clear that he finds this tit for tat really abusive and aggravating. Right, His objective is steel and aluminum tariffs. Let him build his steel and aluminum business in America because that's important. And then you know, they say, okay, we're going to tax whiskey. And look, I find all this back and forth really off the topic. The key topic is rebalancing American trade. We're going to spend lots of time together,
you know. But the President was totally annoyed that the Europeans did this. And so you go in a year back from someone who emotionally cares about America. He cares about America and he wants to take care of Americans. And why are Europeans picking on Kentucky bourbons Harley Davidson motorcycles. You're saying this is an emotional respect it's disrespectful.
Are responsible?
We see, well, we see two hundreds and wine, champagne and alcoholic products before April second, when the President says it's the big one and we're going to get the reciprocal rollout.
Well, the joy of my job is that Donald Trump makes the decisions right and the people around him.
We talk to him and we advise him.
April second is when we do reciprocal tariffs, and he just he's called out these products. He wants these countries to respect him. And all of this showed you is that Europe and Canada do not respect Donald Trump and do not respect America's ability to build it steel an aluminum industry.
Which is vital for national security.
Whereas you watched Mexico and you watch the UK, be pragmatic and thoughtful and the way we're going to deal with them is going to be better. So these are just black and white things. Why would you put against steal an aluminum when you say Harley Davidson motorcycles and Kentucky bourbon.
It's just illogical.
I think the President is saying, look, I am going to respond bigger and always stronger. We will talk together, you know, he wrote that tweet this morning.
We will talk together. If that's what he wants to do, we will do that.
But the answer is, April second, a thoughtful approach to reciprocity and national security of those products he's called out. We're going to increase our domestic production of those and have a reciprocal model, and hopefully when I talk to the Europeans, they'll realize that they should.
Take these things down.
Cool these things out, let's properly negotiate.
Do you have plans to speak to your European counterparts today? Of course, like who are you speaking to, say, Ursula Underlin or potentially some heads of companies like Bernardo who was also at the president's inauguration.
Generally as the Commerce secretary, I speak to the trade ministers.
That's totally out cost a.
Lot of companies also, And I know executives have been calling you, Sarah, not correct. They're looking for exemptions. Exemptions carve outs falls squarely in the Commerce Department.
So let's talk about exemptions for a moment.
Steel and aluminum tariffs went in in twenty eighteen, and when we came back into power, the Biden administration had granted four hundred and ninety thousand exemptions imagine four hundred and ninety thousand exemptions to steal in illuminum tariffs. I mean, I don't know that our department could actually collate forture ninety thousand Christmas cards, let alone four hundred and ninety thousand steal an illuminum tariffs.
I mean, come on, it's ridiculous.
So yesterday what we did is we just got rid of all the exemptions.
That's all we did. The stealing illuminum tariffs were already on.
We just said, look, let's just build back our steal an aluminum industry in America to protect America.
It's so logical, it's so important.
Yeah, and then all we get you get some countries who understand, in some countries who just go right back to old school, and you know, the President's going to deal with them with strength and with power, and he's remembered that they like to respond with a just go after their wine, and maybe they'll pay attention and listen. The fact is April second, we're going to go April second, we're going to go with reciprocity, thoughtful global process.
The Secretary, it's going to take a while to actually get those tariffs in place after all of the appeals process, etc. After April second. And in the meantime, as all of these discussions around tariffs continue, a lot of businesses are just halting investments. You're seeing consumer sentiment decline, you're seeing their spending activity decrease. Can you give them a sense of when they'll have certainty?
The opposite actually is coming true. You saw Apple five hundred billion dollars. You saw a SoftBank two hundred billion dollars. Eli Lilly forty billion dollars. A media company today who sent me notes saying they want to invest sixty five billion in America. The scale by which American companies are committed to invest in America and Global.
Company Secretary jan when I'm talking about hue let me explain to you what I'm.
Taching investments and those are coming well, let me finish, these are huge investments coming to America, over one point seven trillion committed and in Donald Trump's first fifty days. Anyone who thinks people are uncertain doesn't understand what Donald Trump is saying. He's saying, bring your production to America and you will.
Avoid all the tariffs.
Come build in the greatest economy in the world, and you will avoid tariffs.
That's maybe long term, but what we're seeing in the short term is that small business confidence has fall into a four month low. They say a high degree of uncertainty about what the regime is going to look like. They talk about likelihood increasing likelihood of having to increase prices in response to the tariffs. You're seeing this with respect to airplane tickets that are falling off a cliff
as of February. I'm just wondering, and when you take a look at these types of indicators, at what point does it become concerning to you.
The greatest deal maker who's ever lived is sitting behind the desk in.
The Oval Office.
He understands that the best way to get our farmers, our ranchers, and our fishermen's produce and products in the rest of the world, which they block it. I mean, India blocks our farmers. All these countries block our farmers. The way to grow it is to make deals with them where they have to understand the power of the US economy is that you need to take our products. We want to unleash American ingenuity and the capacity to export and when other countries put giant, giant tariffs on
our products. Let's be clear, you can't go to Europe and see an American car. You can't go to Korea and see an American car. You can't go to jip and see an American car. But you sure see their cars here. So the concept of Donald Trump saying, hang on a minute, you've got to be kidding.
We need to unleash.
The American economy, and if we've got to teach the rest of the world to treat us with respect, that they have beaten on us, and they have abused us, and their tariffs are so so high that they've got to actually treat us with respect. Bring down their tariffs so that it's reciprocal. Remember, they will never live with us having the tariffs as high as they have them. So what they're going to do is they're going to
bring them down. Let Donald Trump run this economy. He knows what he's doing better than any president who's ever sat.
At that desk. Let him do his job.
There's going to be a lot of talking, but in the end, there's going to be the greatest growth economy America's ever seen. We are going to export and people who are going to build in America. Those two things are going to happen. And they're going to happen because Donald Trump's going to create fair trade. Start saying the word fair trade, because right now trade in America.
Go look at the numbers.
Un fair Europe huge, India huge, right, China the highest.
There's no inflation in these countries.
What there is is blocking Americans from doing business there, and Donald Trump is going to break down those walls.
Let's talk about China. So we heard from a foreign ministry official in China who said this that Beijing has done the United States a favor and Washington should have said a big thank you for all they've done to control drugs. And I imagine they're alluding to fence and all directly, mister Secretary. I just wonder if the President has seen those comments in the last twenty four hours and what its response is to them.
The President, as we have said on April twod, is going to take a holistic approach to everything. March has been the month to reduce the r the border and fentanyl deaths in America. And I hope to god China's reducing the production of the fentanyl ingredients that kill seventy five thousand or top seed Americans, and as the President rightly knows, that number is way way more.
We need them.
We need China to stop making the ingredients, and we need Mexico and Canada to stop shipping them into our country.
That is March. March is very, very focused on that.
Hopefully they'll get down and we'll have a good a good reduced border Obviously that's so far, so good, but we need to reduce those fentanyl deaths. And then come April, you're going to see us start to focus on lowering tariff away and increasing tariffs at home, so.
At least we get a little ballance.
If they want to lower them reciprocal tariffs mean take them down and we'll take We'll keep ours.
Have they given any indication they wanted to do that ramping up tariffs over the last month on China? Have they given any indication they're prepared to do that just to stress test this theory because taras's been ramping up China over the last ten years. Now, any indication they're willing to actually step back and do what you're asking them to do.
You know, China is always a separate thinking.
You know, the Chinese Communist Party thinks about things in a much much different way than everybody else. And I don't know how they're going to deal with bringing these things down. I would like them to bring it down. They have a huge market, but remember we consume more than two times what they consume. They have a big economy, but they're a production economy.
They sell to us. They need to sell to us.
We are the greatest consuming economy in the world. We are the customer that everybody in the world needs.
Now, they put huge tariffs in because they're.
Trying to build up their consumer production domestically, and that's where they stand. So you don't hear all of you talking about how horrible China is and all the inflation in China and all this sort of stuff.
It's just not true.
The fact is America is going to build up its industries here, drive down tariffs there. I don't know what China will do, but my expectation is the whole world who trades with US will bring down their tariffs and allow our farmers, ranchers, and seamen, allow our production, allow our car manufacturers to export more and grow. We are looking for fair trade trade.
Let's say it over and over again. We got it.
I think it could maybe be a bumper sticker for you. There are reports this week that potentially underway our plans for Shijing Ping to meet with Donald Trump. Are we expecting a meeting between these leaders either in the spring or early summer.
I mean, look, the President runs his agenda, but from my perspective, when strong leaders meet each other that is useful and effective for the world. But Donald Trump will make those decisions himself. I am focused on reciprocal tariffs. On April second, I am not in the agenda of who President Trump decides he wants to.
Meet Secretary Lutnak or just two minutes away from the latest indicator from the United States, which is PPI data and inflation read and initial jobless claims. You've talked about how the data that we are getting right now is Biden data. At what point does it become Trump data.
I'd say we fully wear the fourth quarter, and we may well wear much of the.
Third quarter, But for fourth quarter, for sure.
You know, the American economy, right, a twenty nine trillion dollar economy. You can't take office on Monday and have the news media say, oh, look what you did on Tuesday.
I mean, come on, that's so silly.
So the real way the world works is, for sure, the fourth quarter is Donald Trump's quarter, and the third quarter it starts his policies start to really embed in America.
So that's the right way to look at it.
First and second quarter are Biden's sort of left behind difficulty, and then you see Donald Trump dig us out, build US up and buy. The fourth quarter, you're going to see growth rates because you got all these companies committing to build in America, get their shovels in the ground because we get regulations out of the way.
Start to produce those jobs, start to bring back trade craft.
You know, electricians who build giant factories, HVAC specialists who cool those, and then mechanics who fix robots. You've got trade craft coming back to America. It's going to be amazing. We're going to have the greatest training program ever because we need to train our great workers for the revolution and the tech revolution that is coming that Donald Trump is bringing to construction and development in America. And we need to train our people and they're going to have great, great jobs.
So going forward, do you just look through all of this weakness You've talked about how and we've heard a sort of detox period, et cetera. Do you look past all the data in the first and the second quarters is simply backward looking and look forward to what deals are getting done.
My job is to look forward to what deals are getting done.
I'm going to bring in because Donald Trump has created the policies for me to bring in enormous investment to the country. One point seven trillions so far committed, and we're going to put out a website and literally show these companies construction and manufacturing in America quarter by quarter.
To show this kind of growth.
Remember, each trillion of this kind of committed construction is worth one point of GDP, so a two trillion, which we definitely will have for sure, that's a half a point of GDP for all four of his years. So as that grows, you're going to see that growth come into our GDP numbers. Obviously, not today someone says I'm going to build sixty five billion in America. When can they get In the past, it would take a year and a half to get the permits to build.
Under Donald Trump, it's going to take less than six months.
They're going to be in the ground this year, and the fourth quarter you're going to see this power. So yes, So I have to say, the first quarter surely Biden, the second quarter is Biden. But starting the third quarter you start to feel some Donald Trump, and the fourth quarter you will feel the power of Donald Trump's economy Secretary.
I'm sure you've seen this report in political it says that White House officials, Trump outside allies are quote growing increasingly frustrated with you, sir, privately planning.
About the the fake news.
Please go, I want to give to respond to this.
It's the fake news. I don't want. I don't want to respond when you read fake news. Okay. I spoke to the President last night.
He said, why do these people write this fake news? It's just nonsense. Imagine Jameson Greer, who's our USTR, who works with me, and obviously if you remember when when the President nominated me, he nominated me to say go select the USTR, and we're closely with him. Anybody who says this kind of stuff, these articles talk about the Council of Economic Advisors, they're not even populated yet. The nonsense that we have to read while people just are
trying to be troublemakers where it's entirely fake news. I don't need to respond. Okay, I really don't need to respond. I speak to the President all the time. Our economic team is one, we are together as one.
We get along incredibly well. We speak to each other all.
The time, including yesterday for an enormous amount of time. Every day today again it's gotta stop. I mean, look, these these lousy, you know, media outlet. They try to create something so that you'll talk about and think about it.
They got you to talk about them. I don't even want to say their name.
They don't deserve to be read because it's nonsense.
Out of respect for you said, we just wanted to give you the opportunity to respond in your own way. I think you have. Missus Secretary, thanks for being gracious with your time. You've been very generous.