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Commerce Secretary Lutnick says tech exemptions on China tariffs are temporary - confusion ensues [1]
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Date: 2025-04-13
The competition to be the 'most hated' member of Trump's cabinet is stiff. It is equally challenging to be deemed the 'most incompetent.' Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is aiming to win both trophies. And the early form suggests he might go two for two.
He is the despised main cheerleader for Trump's tariff insanity. It isn't that anyone thinks Lutnick gives a damn one way or another about tariffs — no serious financer thinks they are a good idea — it is that he latched on to them as an aid to lead the race up Trump's ass. Lutnick is so aggressive in his brown-nosing that the previous leading obnoxious economic moron in Trump's orbit, Peter Navarro (aka Ron Vara ), has been sidelined .
Like all good Trump sycophants, Lutnick — Tim Miller from The Bulwark calls him 'Nutlick.' But that isn't very kind, so don't call him Nutlick. Or tell your friends that he is known as Nutlick. In fact, forget I ever wrote Nutlick — has elbowed his way onto any TV show that will have him. This "look at me" self-promotion has not helped him or his boss.
An article in Politico put it thus:
White House and administration officials, as well as Trump's outside allies, are growing increasingly frustrated with Lutnick, privately complaining about the close proximity he has to the president and the counsel he is giving him on economic issues. It's an exasperation compounded by recent television appearances, they say, that suggest a lack of understanding of even the basics about how tariffs and the economy work. He has also at multiple points over the last week gotten out in front of the president on announcements and contradicted his messaging.
Lutnick has his faults. However, lack of hustle is not one of them. There is no quit in the man. His philosophy is "If it's a bad idea, I will stick with it to the bitter end." To that end, he was once again on the Sunday shows today, metaphorically throwing up on himself — while causing yet more confusion in the business community.
On ABC's This Week, he told host Jon Karl that the newly-announced tariff exemptions , including electronic devices and smartphones, are only temporary. In his words :
"All those products are going to come under semiconductors, and they're going to have a special focus type of tariff to make sure that those products get reshored. We need to have semiconductors, we need to have chips, and we need to have flat panels — we need to have these things made in America. We can't be reliant on Southeast Asia for all of the things that operate for us. So what [Trump's] doing is he's saying they're exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, but they're included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two. So these are coming soon."
It's obvious he is making stuff up. There is no way anyone knows what Trump is planning to do tomorrow, let alone what he has coming "in probably a month or two" — including Trump himself. The entire tariff roll-out has been a farce of indecision, flip-flopping, retreats, and never-minds. Even the great patriotic celebration " Liberation Day " lasted just six days .
I am willing to bet that Trump's "semiconductor tariffs" are a figment of Lutnick's wishful thinking. I doubt Trump has any idea what they are. And the "coming soon" has the validity of a stoned teenager's promise to do their homework.
Having created America's upcoming trade policy out of whole cloth, Lutnick gets busy with his second interview objective, buttering up the boss.
"I am completely confident, as is [Trump], that this will be worked out in a positive, thoughtful and effective way for the United States of America. I mean, Donald Trump has the ball. I want him to have it. He's the right person with it. He knows how to play this game. He knows how to deal with President Xi. This is the right person for the right role, and I am confident this is going to work out with China."
I wonder if this sounded as fawning in the original North Korean. It takes chutzpah to say Trump "knows how to play this game" when his every swing has missed the mark so far. But truth has no longevity in the fiery pits of a Trump administration hell.
Sadly, Lutnick may soon run out of opportunities to foist his fantasies on the incredulous. There is growing consensus that the Commerce Secretary is being fitted for a sacrificial lamb's clothing. Politico put it thus :
"Those factors, coupled with an abrasive personality, have left Lutnick with few friends in the administration — and a growing consensus within it that he could be forced to take the fall for the economic turmoil generated by the president's unsteady tariff policies, according to five people close to the administration."
Whether history repeats or rhymes, I expect Lutnick to soon be the mark in a Night of the Long Knives revival. He will not be missed — especially by those swinging the ax.
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