Former president Donald Trump arrives for a roundtable, accompanied by Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, in Auburn Hills, Mich., on Oct. 18.Evan Vucci/The Associated Press
When Howard Lutnick took the microphone at Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally last month, he had an answer to the question of when, exactly, America was great: the early 1900s.
“Our economy was rockin’,” he declared, to cheers of approval. “We had no income tax, and all we had was tariffs.”
Now Mr. Lutnick, a 63-year-old Wall Street executive, is Mr. Trump’s nominee for secretary of commerce, including a wide remit to implement the president-elect’s sweeping, protectionist trade agenda. And because he does not have much history in the field, all Canada and other U.S. trading partners have to go on are his sometimes bombastic, pro-tariff campaign-trail pronouncements.
But while Mr. Lutnick is an unknown quantity in trade circles on both sides of the border – and his elevation, announced Tuesday, a surprise – Mr. Trump’s move to put in place his economic team will help focus Ottawa’s efforts as it works to avoid being hit by tariffs or losing its free-trade deal with Washington.
To that end, the federal government is ramping up its efforts to lobby Mr. Trump, his allies and U.S. industry to spare Canada from the high trade barriers he is vowing to erect around the world’s largest economy.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly touched down in Washington Wednesday to meet with Republican senators Rick Scott and Lindsey Graham, two of the president-elect’s most vocal allies on Capitol Hill.
In Ottawa this week, François-Phillipe Champagne, Mary Ng and Kirsten Hillman – Canada’s industry and trade ministers, and ambassador to the U.S., respectively – convened a meeting with Canadian CEOs to co-ordinate outreach south of the border.
More quietly, the federal government has maintained a backchannel between Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Robert Lighthizer, Mr. Trump’s former trade chief and still a top adviser, said a government source and an industry source with knowledge of the conversations.
Katie Telford, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s chief of staff, is also still in contact with Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, the government source said. The Globe and Mail is not naming the sources because they were not authorized to disclose sensitive government communications.
In naming his appointment as commerce secretary, Mr. Trump said that Mr. Lutnick, who is also the co-chair of his transition team, would be in charge of the new administration’s “tariff and trade agenda,” including oversight of the Office of the United States Trade Representative. He did not make clear if Mr. Lutnick would also hold the job of trade representative simultaneously or if it would simply report to him instead of to the president, as it does now.
The president-elect has vowed to impose tariffs of 10 per cent to 20 per cent on all products imported to the U.S., with higher levies on other goods, including 200 per cent on Mexican autos and 60 per cent on all goods from China. He has also promised to renegotiate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Mr. Trump’s transition team did not respond to requests for comment.
As chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, and a major Trump campaign donor, Mr. Lutnick has long been a well-known presence in New York finance. But he has little background in trade.
“I don’t have any read on him,” said Flavio Volpe, the chief lobbyist for Canada’s auto parts manufacturers. But he said that Mr. Lutnick’s tariff comments, plus Mr. Trump’s prioritizing of trade, meant he was almost certainly on board with the president-elect’s protectionist agenda. “Presumably he’s in because he adheres to the same religion. He’s one of the crew.”
Kellie Meiman Hock, a former U.S. trade official, said Mr. Lutnick’s appointment may be an effort to assuage financial markets by appointing a Wall Street figure to one of the most important roles in Mr. Trump’s administration.
“He is a bit of an unknown quantity in the trade community here,” said Ms. Hock, now a trade consultant at the company McLarty Associates.
Jorge Guajardo, a former high-ranking Mexican diplomat who now advises companies on cross-border business, said Mr. Lutnick’s appointment “caught me by surprise.” But he said in the end, it may not matter. “I think it will be the president conducting trade policy. My guess is that, whoever is appointed, Trump will be calling the shots.”
When Mr. Lighthizer was in charge of trade during Mr. Trump’s previous term, he was intimately familiar with trade law and could implement Mr. Trump’s agenda in a relatively controlled, orderly fashion. His role in the new administration is a mystery. He was thought to be in line for commerce secretary or to return to his old job as U.S. trade representative before Mr. Lutnick got the nod.
The career trade lawyer developed a good rapport with Ms. Freeland during USMCA negotiations, despite their clashes at the bargaining table, and he even dined with one of his deputies at her Toronto home after talks concluded.
The industry source said the pair had remained in touch afterwards, giving the Trudeau government a key line into Mr. Trump’s circle. Kelly Knight Craft, Mr. Trump’s former ambassador to Canada, has also been a helpful contact for the Canadian government in Mr. Trump’s orbit, the source said.
In addition to Mr. Scott and Mr. Graham, Ms. Joly is expected to meet in Washington with Lisa Murkowski, a moderate Republican senator, and Democrat senator Maria Cantwell.
Mr. Lutnick will have to be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate before he takes office but, unlike some of Mr. Trump’s other cabinet picks, he has so far not generated any controversy on Capitol Hill.