Globalization has ‘failed’ the US – commerce secretary

Globalization is a “failed policy” that has “left America behind,” US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick declared in Davos on Tuesday, accusing the World Economic Forum (WEF) of pushing a globalist agenda that undermines the West.

“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 told attendees, before turning on the organizers of the summit.

“It’s a failed policy. It is what the WEF 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,” he said. “The fact is it has left America behind. It has left the American workers behind. And what we are here to say is ‘America First’ is a different model, one that we encourage other countries to consider.”

US President Donald Trump railed against globalization during all three of his presidential campaigns, and at high-profile gatherings like Davos. Vowing to re-industrialize the US and use tariffs to stop the flow of jobs to foreign countries, he promised in 2016 that he would “no longer surrender this country or its people to the false song of globalism.” 

Ten years later, Trump’s program of economic nationalism has strained relations with US allies. Trump threatened eight European NATO member states with 10% tariffs last week, over their opposition to his planned annexation of Greenland, prompting the EU to halt ratification of a landmark trade deal with the US and threaten retaliatory tariffs of his own.

Trump’s allies have also gone ahead and forged deals with the US’ chief economic rival, China. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney inked a preliminary trade deal with Beijing last week, describing the agreement as the beginning of “a new strategic partnership” between both countries.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has led the charge in pressing the EU to impose retaliatory levies on the US, called on Tuesday for “more Chinese direct investment in Europe, particularly in critical sectors.”

During his speech on Tuesday, Lutnick warned that the EU’s commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2030 would make the bloc “subservient to China,” as wind and solar energy requires Chinese-made batteries.

Lutnick caused commotion at a dinner hosted by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink later on Tuesday evening. According to multiple media reports, the secretary delivered another anti-Europe speech that led to European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde walking out and the dinner being canceled before dessert.

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