Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said point-blank during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Tuesday that “globalization has failed.”
Lutnick’s comments came during a panel titled, “Prosperity: Sovereign Yet Connected?” where he was joined by Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, European Institute Director Adam Tooze of Columbia University, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and Wernst and Young CEO Janet Truncale. Lutnick said that the Trump administration was putting American workers first after Globalization had “left the American Workers behind.”
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“We are in Davos at the World Economic Forum, and the Trump administration and myself, we are here to make a very clear point: Globalization has failed the West and the United States of America,” Lutnick said. “It’s a failed policy. It is what the West has stood for, which is export offshore, far shore, find the cheapest labor in the world, and the world is a better place for it,” Lutnick continued. “The fact is it has left America behind. It has left the American workers behind, and what we are here to say is that America first is a different model, one that we encourage other countries to consider, which is that our workers come first.”
President Donald Trump nominated Lutnick, who rebuilt Cantor Fitzgerald after the financial services firm suffered massive losses in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, to serve as Secretary of Commerce in November 2024. Lutnick, who was heckled at one point by former Vice President Al Gore, told the attendees that offshoring vital industries was a serious mistake.
“We can have policies that impact our workers. Sovereignty is your borders. You’re entitled to have borders. You shouldn’t offshore your medicine. You shouldn’t offshore your semiconductors. You shouldn’t offshore your entire industrial base and have it be hollowed out beneath you. You should not be dependent for that which is fundamental to your sovereignty on any other nation, and if you’re going to be dependent on someone, it darn well better be your best allies, OK?” Lutnick said. “And so that is a different way of thinking. It is completely different than the West.”
“I viewed the west as not a flagpole in the middle, but in fact they are the flag,” Lutnick continued. “Whichever way the wind blew, so it blew. You should have solar. You should have wind. Why are you going to do solar and wind? Why would Europe agree to be net zero in 2030 when they don’t make a battery? They don’t make a battery. So, if they go 2030, they are deciding to be subservient to China, who makes the batteries.”
President Donald Trump addressed the WEF about his efforts to acquire Greenland from Denmark, later announcing that a framework had been reached that averted tariffs on multiple European nations. WEF speakers also changed their tone, with The New York Times noting there were fewer discussions about sustainability and social justice, while German Chancellor Freidrich Merz admitted Thursday that the European Union had “wasted incredible potential for growth” by becoming “the world champion of over-regulation.”
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