Lutnick, 63, was confirmed in a 51-45 voting by the total Senate. He will be in charge of and give advice on President Donald Trump’s extensive tax plan, and he will play a significant role in shaping the direction of U.S. trade policy in the coming years.
Lutnick, who is married with four kids, was the chairman and CEO of financial services big Cantor Fitzgerald. He immediately began working for the company after graduating from college, and he immediately rose up the ranks to the position of president and CEO in 1991. Five years later, he was appointed chairman of the board.
The businessman merchant, who is a student of Haverford College, faced questions ranging from taxes to arbitrary knowledge during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. During the reading, he emphasized the government’s desire to build out domestic production and compete with China, while fixing business disparities with other states.
The hearing itself was usually courteous and even lighthearted at times, which stands out from the confirmation hearings for Trump’s different more contentious cabinet nominees, such as Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who were subject to obscene questions from some lawmakers. During the reading, Lutnick gave short and concise responses.
When questioned about specifics of tax policy, he frequently brought up Trump’s professional get ordering study to be done into how to best utilize the tariff agenda, and said he was eager to hear the findings of that research.
Trump’s subsequent management has pledged to impose a much stricter price regime. Trump teased 10 % to 20 % of all-encompassing tariffs and 25 % tariffs on Mexico in Canada during the campaign trail as a tool to coerce the two allies into halting the flow of fentanyl and illegal immigrants into the United States.
In recent months, Trump moved to implement the tariffs on Mexico and Canada, but delayed them after discussions. He has even imposed tariffs on aluminum and steel, and he has stated that he will impose taxes on any nations that impose taxes or other non-trade restrictions on U.S. products.
Our investing partners in Canada and Mexico may prevent disrespecting us and allowing this to pass through our frontiers, Lutnick said.
Trump has even pushed for the passage of the Reciprocal Trade Act, which allows the president to impose tariffs on the United States formally and in the same proportion as any tariffs put forth by different nations.
” We need to get treated with respect, and we can use taxes to create equality, justice, and respect”, Lutnick said during the hearing.
One of the more dramatic moments during Lutnick’s confirmation hearing was when he recounted Sept. 11 problems.
Cantor Fitzgerald’s business office was located on various surfaces near the top of Tower 1, and every individual employee who came to work that day was killed in the attack, 658 in all, which made up more than 68 % of the fund’s total labor. Lutnick’s sibling, Gary, was among those who died.
Lutnick recalled that the only thing he could survive was that he was just going to the office to take his son to his first evening of school.
” As you can imagine, the pain we suffered with Gary and 657 of my other friends and colleagues at Cantor Fitzgerald were killed on 9/11″, Lutnick told politicians, choking back grief. ” I still didn’t say it without getting personal, sorry”.
His business raised$ 80 million to help the families of the victims of the previous five years.
Lutnick also had to deal with concerns about how to engage with China and AI. A Chinese firm called DeepSeek unveiled a new Artificial type that it claims to be comparable to OpenAI’s models in terms of performance, but for a much less expensive.
In the five days leading up to the hearing, Nvidia’s property fell 15 %, sending domestic chip manufacturers like Nvidia into a spiral. It has since recovered.
” We must stop supporting them and continue to push our technology.” You know, empty platforms — Meta’s open system let DeepSeek depend on it. Nvidia’s cards, which they bought lots of, and they found their techniques around, push their DeepSeek design. It’s got to finish”, he continued.
Lutnick said it is “nonsense” to believe that DeepSeek did all above-board in developing the systems and said the U. S. may be in the lead when it comes to international AI profitability.
Lutnick also stated to lawmakers that he views China with a “very jaundiced view.”
” I believe they only care about themselves and try to harm us,” he said. ” And so we need to protect ourselves. We need to drive our innovation”.
Lutnick succeeds former President Joe Biden’s Commerce secretary, Gina Raimondo, and will take over from Jeremy Pelter, who has been serving in an acting capacity since Trump was sworn in.
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Wilbur Ross served as Trump’s Commerce Secretary during his first term. Ross predicted that Lutnick’s tariff policy will face less Republican opposition in Congress than it did during Trump’s first administration. In a recent interview with the Washington Examiner, Ross predicted this.
” This time, I don’t think there are that many so-called free-traders left in the Congress”, Ross said. ” Last time, frankly, we had more trouble with some of the Republicans than we had with the Democrats”.
