Howard Lutnick's Freewheeling First Year as Commerce Secretary: From Wall Street to Tariff Negotiations
By
Michael Rothfeld, Ana Swanson
Crusty in the right places. Worth the chew.
Summary
This article profiles Howard Lutnick, the U.S. Commerce Secretary under President Trump, who came from the aggressive world of voice-trading treasury brokers. It describes how auto executives, facing billions in costs from Trump's tariffs on foreign car parts, sought to negotiate with Lutnick in his White House office. The piece also notes that before his government role, Lutnick controlled 818 companies, and his business background sheds light on his freewheeling approach in his first year as commerce secretary.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledWhen auto executives learned last year that President Trump's punishing tariffs on foreign car parts were set to cost their companies billions of dollars, they were rattled.
Eager to lessen the blow, they began calling and visiting Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in his spacious, wood-paneled office near the White House, where they negotiated.
Before becoming U.S. commerce secretary, Mr. Lutnick controlled 818 companies. A review of their dealings sheds light on his freewheeling first year in government.
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