Howard Lutnick's Remarks on Bringing Factories to US Face Pushback

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appeared at odds with himself when addressing automation in new U.S. factories and the lack of labor-guaranteed jobs as concerns about the impact of tariffs remain high.

Newsweek reached out by email to the Department of Commerce and the White House outside of normal business hours for comment.

Why It Matters

President Donald Trump's announcement last week included new tariffs on all imported goods from 180 countries as well as a list of "reciprocal duties" targeting China and other countries, claiming to combat trade imbalances and restore America's manufacturing industry. He hailed the tariffs as the country's "declaration of economic independence."

China, the world's second-largest economy, will face a 34 percent reciprocal tariff, which will start on April 9, and is in addition to a 20 percent tariff already in effect. The list claims that China charges a 67 percent tariff on U.S. products. On Friday, China announced the same retaliatory tariff on the U.S. at 34 percent.

Trump's tariffs and shakeup of global trade has rattled global and domestic markets, with Wall Street tanking over the past few days, marking the worst days for the U.S. stock markets since 2020.

Trump insisted that markets will "boom" as a result of his trade war. Vice President JD Vance also told Newsmax on Thursday, as stock futures continued dropping, that things "could be worse."

The extensive list of tariffs also threatens to upend the U.S. economy, as most—but not all—economists say they amount to taxes on American companies that will be passed down to consumers.

What To Know

Lutnick spoke on Sunday with host Margaret Brennan on CBS News' Face the Nation, during which Brennan asked what the Trump administration might do to offset the impact of China's own retaliatory tariffs. She cited subsidies provided to farmers to help them deal with Chinese tariffs during the first Trump administration.

He pivoted to touting the potential windfall of new factories that the U.S. plans to build in coming years, but Brennan countered with the concern that it "takes years" to build those factories, and, more pointedly, Lutnick in other interviews had discussed how automation would dominate those facilities.

Lutnick argued that union workers would still build and operate the automated factories, to which Brennan quoted back to him that he said robots would do those jobs, too.

"You said it on Fox," Brennan said, to which Lutnick responded, "The army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little screws to make iPhones—that kind of thing will come back to the America, it's going to be automated, and great Americans, the tradecraft of America, is going to fix them, is going to work on them."

He added: "There's going to be mechanics, there's going to be HVAC specialists, there's going to be electricians—the tradecraft of America, our high school-educated Americans, the core to our workforce, is going to have the greatest resurgence of jobs in the history of America, to work on these high-tech factories, which are all coming to America."

The commerce secretary's answer drew backlash on social media, with some criticizing his admission that the factories would lean into automation, while others interpreted his answer to mean the Trump administration was looking to bring sweatshop-like work conditions to the U.S.

It should be noted that Lutnick, however, was saying that the U.S. would automate the jobs such as "screwing in little screws" and that humans would maintain the machines that would perform those jobs instead.

What People Are Saying

Jessica Tarlov, Fox News contributor and co-host of The Five, posted Lutnick's answer on X, formerly Twitter, and wrote: "When you've given too many crappy interviews and forget you admitted the whole premise of bringing manufacturing back to America to create good paying jobs was a farce."

Chuck Todd, a political analyst who previously served as moderator for NBC News' Meet the Press, wrote on X: "Democrats may want to pay for Sec. Lutnick to travel the country; he's a tremendous salesman for these tariffs."

Melanie D'Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health and former Democrat congressional candidate, wrote on X: "Not knowing how things work [handshake emoji] wanting to exploit workers: Trump's cabinet."

Progressive podcast host Dash Dobrofsky posted on X: "It gives me literal anxiety watching Trump's cabinet members like Lutnick and Bessent go on mainstream media, stare into the camera with a straight face, and lie so effortlessly."

He added: "They deliberately tanked our retirement accounts and stock portfolios—then gaslight the American people into believing either: A) the market crash is somehow a good thing, or B) it's not actually happening, and everything is fine. It's like that scene in The Big Short when Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell are debating whether the bankers are extremely corrupt or unbelievably stupid. In the case of Trump's cabinet officials—I'd say they're both."

Charles Gasparino, Fox Business senior correspondent, wrote on X: "In an effort to calm markets Trump [White House] is spreading the word to whoever will listen that dozens of countries are calling in and are willing to cut deals on trade. Story developing."

What Happens Next?

The Trump administration will continue to tweak its tariffs policy as reports emerge that various countries have tried to negotiate to bring down or eliminate the tariffs entirely. However, the administration has maintained the tariffs will play a key role in helping onshore jobs that the U.S. lost over recent decades.