Howard Lutnick, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be commerce secretary, testifies before a Senate Commerce Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 29, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
"I think when you pick one product in Mexico, they'll pick one product. You know, we pick avocados, they pick white corn, we pick tomatoes, they pick yellow corn. All you're doing is picking on farmers."
"Let America make it more fair. We are treated horribly by the global trading environment. They all have higher tariffs, non-tariff trade barriers and subsidies. They treat us poorly. We need to be treated better," Lutnick went on.
"We can use tariffs to create reciprocity."
He said Trump, a longtime friend, was of a "like mind" that tariffs need to be simple.
"The steel and aluminum had 560,000 applications for exclusions," said Lutnick. "It just seems that’s too many."
Trump recently signed an executive order directing the Commerce Department and the office of the US Trade Representative to conduct a review of U.S. trade policy and tariff models, with a focus on China. Trump has said he intends to impose a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1 amid concerns of mass migration and drug trafficking. He also said he would increase tariffs on China by 10%.
Lutnick also sounded off about Europe treating U.S. industry unfairly.
AOC ROASTED OVER POST ABOUT COLOMBIA TARIFFS AND COFFEE PRICES THAT 'AGED LIKE HOT MILK'
Trucks travel across the World Trade International Bridge in Laredo, Texas, U.S., on Monday, June 10, 2019. (Photographer: Callaghan O'Hare/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"While they’re an ally, they are taking advantage of us and disrespecting us. And I would like that to end."
His comments echoed those of Trump last week.
"The European Union is very, very bad to us," he said. "So they're going to be in for tariffs. It's the only way ... you're going to get fairness."
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The governments of Mexico, Canada and nations in Europe have prepared a list of their own U.S. imports that will face tariffs in a tit-for-tat trade war if Trump follows through on taxing their own goods as they’re brought into the U.S.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said Monday that European nations needed to united to use their collective economic force against the U.S. if needed.
"As the United States shifts to a more transactional approach, Europe needs to close ranks," she said at a news conference in Brussels. "Europe is an economic heavyweight and geopolitical partner."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/howard-lutnick-trump-commerce-secretary-pick-says-its-nonsense-tariffs-cause-inflation