By Gavin Bade, Meridith McGraw and Vipal Monga

Howard Lutnick called Doug Ford, the leader of Canada's Ontario province, hours after U.S. tariffs on Canada and Mexico took effect Tuesday with an urgent demand: He wanted Ford to back off his threats to retaliate against the American levies.

"I told him where we stand: We will not budge," Ford said.

That wasn't the only tense exchange Lutnick would have with a Canadian leader. Several days later, he was also on the call between President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that descended into yelling and swearing, a person with knowledge of the call said. The Commerce Secretary also earlier had a tense meeting with Mexico Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard on tariffs that yielded no resolution to the U.S.'s threats.

"I would say that we started a dialogue with very different positions," Ebrard said standing alongside Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday, referring to his meetings with Lutnick.

These conversations are the behind-closed-doors work of Trump's new Commerce secretary, who has asserted himself -- with Trump's blessing -- as the lead negotiator of the president's gyrating trade agenda, as well as its public face. The former CEO of Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald has at times appeared several times a day on different cable news shows to unveil details of tariff moves and partial reversals. He has sometimes gotten ahead of the president, like when he told CNBC on Thursday morning Trump would likely suspend 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada for a month, reassuring investors who were rattled by the uncertainty.

So far, the president has approved of Lutnick's approach, and has privately praised the Commerce secretary's interviews with news anchors. Lutnick made at least eight television appearances this week to explain Trump's tariff policies. Officials say Trump trusts Lutnick, an old friend from Manhattan who is frequently in the Oval Office with the president or on Air Force One when Trump flies home to Palm Beach.

Lutnick, no stranger to business TV and a familiar face on Wall Street, is seen by some within the White House as credible in the business community and as someone able to translate Trump's tariff policy, a White House official said.

While Trump moves quickly and deliberately, it is up to senior officials and Cabinet members to explain his decision making to the public. Lutnick has not always been the smoothest communicator, an administration official said, pointing to the tariff tug-of-war over the past week.

Steve Moore, an economist who served as a senior economic adviser in Trump's first term, said that while Lutnick seems to "echo what Trump says," he sometimes "leads Trump on the declarations, so it's hard to figure out whether he's the one driving the policy or articulating it."

White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement: "Secretary Lutnick is an accomplished business leader who has demonstrated courage and tenacity in the face of tragedy throughout his life," adding: "His immensely successful private-sector career makes him an invaluable asset to negotiate with foreign leaders and implement President Trump's America First economic agenda that has already ushered in trillions in historic investment commitments from industry leaders such as Apple and TSMC."

Lutnick quickly warmed to the tariff issue before and during his time serving as the personnel coordinator on Trump's presidential transition team. In December, shortly after he was nominated to the Commerce post, Lutnick met with Charles Benoit, the lead trade lawyer for the Coalition for a Prosperous America. The organization is a little-known coalition of U.S. companies and labor unions that has become one of the most influential outside groups on the Trump administration's trade agenda.

Benoit was ready to sell Lutnick on an aggressive trade agenda, pushing higher and more broad-based tariffs than in President Trump's first term, as well as using tariff revenue to replace some income taxes. He found Lutnick required no convincing; he was already on board with every plank of an unabashedly protectionist trade agenda.

Lutnick was "very high energy, very excited," said Benoit, adding that other officials, like Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, are "coming around" to a protectionist agenda, "but no one had that passion that Trump had except for Lutnick."

Though Lutnick has been a lead on Trump's trade agenda, he also has responsibility over a sprawling federal agency of more than 48,000 people and has been at the forefront of other policy decisions. For instance, Lutnick was a leading proponent of Trump's "gold card" for U.S. citizenship for a $5 million fee to replace the government's EB-5 immigrant investor visa program.

The secretary, Benoit and others say, exhibits many similar personality traits to Trump, from brashness and affability to his TV-friendly showmanship and talkative nature: During a trade call with U.S. automakers, he went on for almost an hour about tariffs and supply chains, say those with knowledge of the matter.

Lutnick is "very much like Trump," said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R., N.D.), a Trump ally in the Senate. He added that the Commerce secretary shares many of the same policy positions as Peter Navarro, the president's senior counselor for trade, but "wears on you less" -- referring to Navarro's tendency to ruffle feathers on Capitol Hill.

Several people described Lutnick as genial but also like a bull in a china shop, citing his bold style. At times it has prompted confusion.

This week alone, Lutnick was at the forefront of

imposing 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Tuesday, before pulling back Thursday and exempting much of the continental trade flows from the new duties. The current exemption covers all goods that comply with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that Trump signed in 2020.

The on-again, off-again nature of the tariffs sparked a selloff on Wall Street and stoked anxiety on Capitol Hill, even among Republicans.

Some leaders in the auto industry have privately expressed concern that Lutnick might not completely understand the tariff authorities he is using or the supply chains for critical industries such as automobiles. On a call with automakers before the Canada and Mexico tariffs were imposed, several people said Lutnick didn't seem to grasp the intricacies of the continental supply chain for cars, where parts move across borders several times before being assembled into a vehicle -- hence, exposing them to multiple rounds of tariffs.

Days later, Trump decided to grant a carve-out to USMCA-compliant goods, including cars, after White House officials said U.S.-based automakers made commitments to relocate manufacturing back to the U.S. -- commitments that haven't been confirmed by the automakers.

Trump appears set on keeping his fellow billionaire at the helm of his trade policy. Lutnick, Trump has said, is a "relationship person," and is "the best at it."

On Friday evening, Trump boarded Marine One at the White House, headed to Palm Beach for the weekend. Lutnick was walking a few paces behind the president to join him for the trip.

Write to Gavin Bade at gavin.bade@wsj.com, Meridith McGraw at Meridith.McGraw@WSJ.com and Vipal Monga at vipal.monga@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 08, 2025 05:00 ET (10:00 GMT)

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