Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
US PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump nominated Howard Lutnick, the co-chair of his transition team, as his commerce secretary.
Lutnick has previously said that America can only “become a great country again” if Ireland stops “running a trade surplus at our expense”.
It’s a hint at what the next Trump presidency could mean for Ireland.
A trade surplus exists when one country exports more than it imports.
Lutnick will lead the country’s tariff and trade agenda, with “additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative,” Trump said in a statement.
His appointment is also expected to bring a tougher stance on China from the incoming administration.
It’s nonsense that Ireland of all places runs a trade surplus at our expense. We don’t make anything here anymore—even great American cars are made in Mexico. When we end this nonsense, America will be a truly great country again. You’ll be shocked!
— Howard Lutnick (@howardlutnick) October 16, 2024
At a mid-election cabinet meeting this morning, Taoiseach Simon Harris is expected to brief ministers on economic security in the context of geopolitical instability.
Many party leaders have expressed the need for a more protected economic model in Ireland since the election of Trump.
Cabinet, who will take up a caretaker role after the election, will hear that the Taoiseach expects the economic situation to be challenging in the near future. Harris will tell ministers that the next Government will need to protect the economy more.
This could include working with partners in the EU and in Ireland so the country is well positioned to mitigate any economic shocks. Harris will tell the Cabinet that an all-of-Government approach will be needed to make sure the economy is protected as a result.
Tariffs are a key part of Trump’s economic agenda and he has promised sweeping duties on all imports when he returns to the White House. The Commerce Department’s role will be aimed at boosting American industry.
Trump’s administration is expected to direct the Department to look at hardening the United States’ shift to becoming a large exporter of critical technology such as semiconductors and computer chips, to compete with Beijing.
Lutnick has also expressed support for a tariff level of 60% on Chinese goods alongside a 10% tariff on all other imports. Both are among proposals that Trump has floated, with the Republican taking aim at countries which have been “ripping us off for years”.
In Trump’s first term he engaged in a tariffs war with China, with the US Trade Representative’s office issuing duties on imports from the world’s second-biggest economy.
Lutnick also previously lamented the loss of manufacturing jobs in the United States and offshoring to China.
Lutnick was initially tipped to head the Treasury Department but a tussle over the position spilled into the public eye last weekend.
Trump’s health secretary pick Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expressed support for Lutnick, saying on social media that “Bitcoin will have no stronger advocate” than him.
The world’s richest man Elon Musk also threw his support behind Lutnick for Treasury chief while calling the other top contender, hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, “a business-as-usual choice.”
“Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt, so we need change one way or another,” said Musk, who Trump has tapped to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency.
Lutnick recalls losing hundreds of employees in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, a tragedy narrowly he avoided as he was taking his son to school.
Besides Cantor Fitzgerald, Lutnick heads financial technology firm BGC Group and real estate services firm Newmark Group.
He graduated from Haverford College and has a degree in economics, according to his biography on Cantor’s website.
As co-chair of Trump’s transition team, Lutnick has been identifying new hires for the president-elect’s administration.
Additional reporting by Muiris O’Cearbhaill & Christina Finn
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
France. Always have been. Always will be.
@Vonvonic: seriously?
@Thomas O’ Donnell: I would agree with Vonvonic. The alliance goes back to Norman-Ireland. A lot of the Normans that settled in Ireland would have classed themselves as more French than English.
@Vonvonic: I would agree you only have to look at the Wolfe Tone connection
@Patrick Corr: it was at Fontenoy that the cry was heard, while charging at the British in the decisive rout by the Irish Brigade, Remember Limerick and Saxon Perfidy.
@Vonvonic: Bien sûr mon ami!
It has to be said that Irelands department of foreign affairs have done a great job over the past few years with the UN Security Council, the observer statuses, etc., but the reality is Ireland has lost our biggest ally in the EU now that the UK has gone and there are a few countries who have their eyes on several of Irelands laws and policies that they will target and not for Irelands benefit. The commenters on this site are 90% anti UK, and definitely anti everything the government does, so it’s not the best comment section to get a decent POV but it would be good to see if Irish people, in general, are aware of where we stand in the EU today
@Local Ore: The article addresses this, we build alliances on a policy basis rather than being wedded to any particular one on all things. This is a highly beneficial approach that creates political capital. The divergence of Ireland and the UK within the EU has been going on so long that when it they did leave, it impacted us far less than many expected. We are well able to plough our own furrow and protect our own interests, while keeping a pragmatic and flexible position in a fast changing world. We are also now the only EU member State with english as a first language. If we weren’t doing so well already, I’d go so far as to say that the UK’s act of self-isolation will be the making of Ireland.
@Eoin Roche: Ireland’s economic success is completely due to FDI. It was 288% of GDP in 2019. The UK accounts for far more of FDI than any EU country. In terms of exports, The US and The UK account for 41% of Irelands exports, France accounts for 4%… I mention this because France competes with Ireland far, far more than people think and they intend to target Irelands FDI, I have members of my team supporting French Public Sector bodies right now reviewing EU policies on how to target the €1Trn FDI Ireland gets. Think of the size of France, we import about €13bn from them, they import about €5bn from us. France and Germany plan to strengthen their ties and “leadership” (control) of the EU over the coming years, this isn’t to support “the making of Ireland”, it’s to grow themselves
@Eoin Roche: Dublin is now an outlier in an EU where reliance on foreign multinationals will no longer be ignored. These companies now account for 32 percent of all jobs in Ireland and 49 percent of employment taxes. 75 percent of recent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Ireland either comes from the U.S. (58 percent) or the U.K. (17 percent). By contrast, just 5 percent comes from Germany. Dublins Economic Model is the talking point of EU policymakers, as I mentioned, and we are already seeing it – harmonised corporation tax. Next will be FDI policy and they are already drawing it up to try to “harmonise” it toward other EU countries.
@Eoin Roche: Correction: Malta has English as a first language.
@Nick Caffrey: Correction: Maltese is the 1st language in Malta, English is 2nd and also an official language
@Local Ore: You are failing to differentiate between US FDI and UK FDI. The US is by far more important than the UK to us, no comparison. Why do you conflate two wildly different countries/economies?
@Leo Sharkey: I’m not conflating them in any way, I’m pointing out that Irelands largest investment, and trade, comes from outside the EU and was heavily protected by the UK supporting Ireland on policy and vice-versa. I’ve seen people on this site say France and Germany are major allies/supporters of Ireland and I wonder if it’s total lack of knowledge, deliberate ignorance or just the anti-UK sentiment of most of the commenters. Only in Ireland do people think Ireland is better off in the EU without the UK… it goes against all logic and facts. The EU is a body of consultation and common action between states, underpinned by legal and institutional arrangements. These arrangements are evolving in response to needs as they arise and France and Germany’s needs to do not align to Irelands.
France and Germany have supported us throughout the whole Brexit process and NI protocol . If they wavered in their support for us, the British would sense an opportunity and end up causing trouble in Northern Ireland.
We are more aligned with our Nordic blood brothers and france than any of the other countries in europe.
It is worth recalling that the old British policy of DIVIDE AND CONQUER failed when they attempted to disunite the EU approach to recent events.
It’s a right tough one, not Portugal or Spain because of the amount that go there on holiday, they know what we are like when let out. Not the French as they’ve always tried to help us but end up making a balls out of it and then think it’s our fault. Not Poland, they know what we’re like too from half of them being here at one stage. It wont be the Italians either as the blue shirts have given Mussolini’s black shirts a bad name! I’ll run out of characters soon so I’m sure others can fill in the blanks, who haven’t we pissed off?
@This time its personable!: Did you read the article? The Scandinavian and Benelux countries are our natural allies in Europe.
@JustMeHere: I did boy, I didn’t include them there I was pointing out the additional reasons why the others aren’t too for caring about us!
I would argue that Angela Merkel and Germany have been our quiet allies for 20 years, France, the Baltic, and Benelux states, but generally speaking we have good relationships with all our EU colleagues.
@Leo Sharkey: I literally work in this area of the public sector and can tell by this comment that you most definitely do not. France has been attacking Irelands tax and FDI for my entire career, the “Dublin Economy” drives them mad in Brussels. The Netherlands directly competes, and wins, in financial services with Ireland. Ireland has a deregulated, highly flexible global economy that lacks the comprehensive social protections of continental counterparts such as the Netherlands or Denmark, the model stands in stark contrast to the centralism unleashed from the Elysée. The countries you mention are highly focused on corporate and digital taxation, data protection and the further centralization of the eurozone – all massively damaging and contrasting to the Irish model.
Henry 8th’s break was the same mentality as Brexit. A difference is that Boris will not be confiscating assets of Europeans and calling it a reformation.
have your say