President-elect Donald Trump has selected Wall Street veteran Howard Lutnick to head the Commerce Department and take a leading role in the incoming administration's trade policy.
Lutnick, the Trump-Vance transition co-chair and Cantor Fitzgerald chief executive officer, had reportedly been under consideration for treasury secretary and had received Elon Musk’s backing for that position.
In addition to being commerce secretary, Lutnick “will lead our Tariff and Trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative,” according to a statement from the Trump transition team.
On the campaign trail, Lutnick was an outspoken proponent of Trump’s tariff plans, calling them an “amazing tool” during a September CNBC interview. During the same interview he also suggested that Trump’s tariff threats could be used as a “bargaining chip” to negotiate additional market access for U.S. producers and secure agreements more favorable to the U.S.
At Commerce, Lutnick will helm the department responsible for administering trade remedy investigations, which Trump used during his first term to levy tariffs on steel and aluminum from trading partners.
Lutnick’s appointment to Commerce leaves hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh and CEO of Apollo Global Management Marc Rowan as the front-runners jockeying for the Treasury position, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
Jamieson Greer, who was chief of staff to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer during Trump’s first term, is also in the running to lead USTR, while Lighthizer himself could serve as a “trade czar” under the next administration, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal.
Whether Lutnick’s additional trade responsibilities signal a future reorganization of U.S. trade policymaking, however, will remain to be seen, and could face significant pushback, according to a former Trump official.
“There's always been a bit of a fight over who's going to lead trade, Commerce or USTR,” said Everett Eissenstat, who was deputy director of the National Economic Council under Trump. Lutnick could, therefore, “have a huge impact” on U.S. trade policy from his perch at Commerce.
But, Eissenstat added, if the president uses Lutnick’s expanded portfolio to reorganize departmental trade authorities, for example, by trying to fold USTR into Commerce, he will likely face opposition from Congress, Eissenstat said.
The Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee "guard their jurisdiction on trade appointments very, very strenuously,” said Eissenstat, who is also a former chief international trade counsel to the Finance Committee chairman.
But the next president can choose who has his ear on trade policy.
“You can still have a USTR appointed and confirmed by Congress, and that person may not be as influential on trade,” Eissenstat said. “If the president chooses to treat it that way, that's the way it's going to be.”
