Table of Contents
- 1 “We will get $400 billion from China through tariffs.”
- 2 The Wall Street Jews who rose up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks
- 3 Hagerty, Worthy, Rowan named candidates for Secretary of the Treasury
- 4 In what ways could the Department of Commerce’s focus on economic security and oversight of sensitive technologies shape its policies under Howard Rutnick’s leadership?
Howard Rutnick, a nominee for the next Secretary of Commerce. / Reuters Yonhap News US President Donald Trump named Howard Rutnick (63, photo), co-chairman of the transition team, as the next US Secretary of Commerce on the 19th (local time). President-elect Trump announced, “(Rutnick) will lead the tariff and trade agenda and will also have direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).
Since there were reports that former USTR representative Robert Lighthizer was planning to be named ‘trade czar’, there were many predictions in the trade field that a similar line would be drawn in the first term of Trump was created with Lighthizer in the middle. However, the trade industry is in serious trouble because he, who was announced as a strong candidate for the Minister of Finance, has surprisingly been chosen for the post of Minister of Trade. The explanation that the status of the USTR will be reduced and that the Department of Commerce will become a ‘super power’ that leads the global tariff war of the next administration is gaining ground.
“We will get $400 billion from China through tariffs.”
Nominee Rutnick is a close associate of President-elect Trump and has strong support from Tesla CEO Elon Musk. They support deregulation and lower corporate tax rates and have argued that imposing broad tariffs will be a ‘bargaining chip in trade talks’. His theory is, “We should put tariffs on products we make, but not on products we don’t make (CNBC interview). Last month, he appeared on a podcast and said, “We should make money (with tariffs), not tax our people (Americans),” and “If we put tariffs on China, we can $400 billion to make (about 560 trillion won) “said.
It is significant that USTR’s jurisdiction was mentioned when Rutnick was nominated as Secretary of Commerce. USTR, which oversees trade agreements such as the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA), has been run separately from the Commerce Department as an agency directly under the White House since its establishment in 1962. By definition President Trump, it is very likely that USTR will be run under the authority of the Commerce Department in the future. This means that all tariff policies that disrupt existing agreements that guarantee zero or low tariffs, such as the FTA or the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA), will be repealed. under the responsibility of the Secretary of Commerce.
With the conflict between the US and China, the authority of the Department of Commerce, which is in charge of ‘economic security’, continues to strengthen. This is because they are responsible for monitoring China’s technological development by using their control over sensitive American technology. The Semiconductor Act (Chips Act), the artificial intelligence (AI) executive order, and the export control system for quantum computers and semiconductors have a major impact on Korean companies. Even in the current Biden administration, the presence of Commerce Secretary Gina Lemondo is much greater than the presence of USTR Representative Catherine Tai.
However, specific details remain unclear, such as whether there will be no separate USTR representative and whether USTR will be under the authority of the Commerce Department only to report to it. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Reuters each inquired about this with the construction team, but said they did not receive a response.
If USTR comes under the guidance of the Department of Commerce, the next stream of government reporting is expected to be very different from the current one. However, specific details have not yet been confirmed. The acquisition team has not given a clear answer as to whether or not there will be an organizational integration. /Washington = Reporter Lee Sang-eun
The Wall Street Jews who rose up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks
Rutnick’s nominee is the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a Wall Street investment bank. He joined this company in 1983 and has been CEO for over 30 years since 1991, when he was 29 years old. He made his fortune mostly through trading US Treasury bonds. He is best known for rebuilding a company that collapsed during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Cantor Fitzgerald’s headquarters were on the 101st to 105th floors of the North Building of the Twin Towers World Trade Center at the time, and 658 people were killed when the plane crashed. About a quarter of the 2,753 people who died in New York were employees of this company.
Rutnick was able to avoid the tragedy because she was dropping her son off at kindergarten that morning. The image of him crying over the loss of an employee was broadcast across the country, and many people still remember him as he was at that time. He established a relief foundation and gave $180 million to the families of the victims with donations collected and his own money. After that, the company was successfully rebuilt and the number of employees increased from around 2,000 to 13,000.
According to WSJ, he was born to a Jewish family in New York and has known President-elect Trump for decades. During the 2020 presidential election, he also held a fundraising campaign for Trump. Unlike Matt Gates, the candidate for Attorney General, and Pete Hegseth, the candidate for Secretary of Defense, many predict that Rutnick will pass Senate confirmation without much trouble.
Hagerty, Worthy, Rowan named candidates for Secretary of the Treasury
Curiosity is also growing about the future of former USTR Representative Lighthizer. Citing officials, the WSJ said, “Lightthizer was aiming for the Commerce Secretary post.” As the buzz around Treasury Secretary candidates like Rutnick and Scott Bessent, CEO of Key Square Group, grows, President-elect Trump is excluding both of them from the candidacy and considering other candidates.
Senator Bill Hagerty (Tennessee), former US Central Bank (Fed) director Kevin Worthy, and Apollo Global Management CEO Mark Rowan are currently being debated as candidates for Treasury Secretary. WSJ reported that Peter Navarro, former chairman of the National Trade Commission, may be named chairman of the National Economic Committee (NEC).
At the same time, the Washington Post (WP), citing government officials, reported that US President Donald Trump, who will be in office on January 20 next year, is receiving intelligence reports from intelligence authorities . This briefing by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) began shortly after the US presidential election on the 5th. President-elect Trump was criminally indicted last year on allegations of taking classified information and storing it at his home after he left office in January 2021.
Washington = Correspondent Lee Sang-eun selee@hankyung.com
#Confidence #Commerce #Secretary.. #tax #China #trillion #won
2024-11-20 07:45:00
In what ways could the Department of Commerce’s focus on economic security and oversight of sensitive technologies shape its policies under Howard Rutnick’s leadership?
1. In light of the announcement of Howard Rutnick as the next Secretary of Commerce, what potential impacts can we expect on trade policies between the US and China, as well as other international trade partners?
2. What role do you envision the Department of Commerce playing in this context, particularly with regard to economic security and the oversight of sensitive technologies?
3. How will the integration of the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) under the authority of the Department of Commerce potentially affect existing trade agreements, such as the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA)?
4. As someone who has experienced a tragic event like the September 11 terrorist attacks, what aspects of Rutnick’s background do you think make him uniquely qualified for this position, and how might this experience influence his approach to his new role?
5. Given his close association with President Trump and support of deregulation and lower corporate tax rates, how might Rutnick’s nomination impact various sectors of the US economy?
6. With the potential shift in power from USTR to the Department of Commerce, what challenges do you foresee in terms of enforcing existing trade agreements and negotiating new ones?
7. How do you see the nomination of Howard Rutnick for Secretary of Commerce within the greater context of President-elect Trump’s Cabinet and his administration’s overall economic policy goals?
8. Alternatively, how might the confirmation process for Rutnick play out in light of any potential opposition or controversy surrounding his nomination?
9. In the event that the USTR is fully integrated into the Department of Commerce, what kind of organizational changes might we expect to see within the government, and how might these changes affect both domestic and international businesses operating in the US?
