Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick refused to respond directly to a question about sovereignty amid President Donald Trump’s ongoing threats to take over Greenland, one way or another. Lutnick encouraged the panel’s moderator, Adam Tooze, a Columbia University historian, to look at the bigger picture, asserting that globalization has "failed" and "left Americans behind." He questioned European nations’ commitment to green energy milestones when "they don’t make a battery," leaving them "subservient to China, which makes a battery." The U.S. delegate then told the room that they should all want his country to be as strong as possible. "I want to point out that when America shines, the world shines. Close your eyes and think of a world without America in it. It becomes pretty dark pretty darn quickly," Lutnick said.
00:00Globalization has failed the West and the United States of America.
00:06You shouldn't offshore your medicine.
00:08You shouldn't offshore your semiconductors.
00:11You shouldn't offshore your entire industrial base and have it be hollowed out beneath you.
00:16You should not be dependent.
00:18Why would Europe agree to be net zero in 2030 when they don't make a battery?
00:27They don't make a battery.
00:29So if they go 2030, they are deciding to be subservient to China who makes the batteries.
00:36When America shines, the world shines.
00:41Close your eyes and think of a world without America in it.
00:45It becomes pretty dark, pretty darn quickly.
00:49The Western Hemisphere is vital for the United States of America.
00:53Our national security people are on it and they care about it and I'm going to leave it to them.
00:57And when it moves from the zone of economic policy to the question that is directly under the subtitle of our talk today, which is sovereignty,
01:04and we're talking about the territory of Greenland, and it's coupled so directly to tariffs, it's a fundamental shock to the system.
01:11You can read it off the faces and the rhetoric of every single European politician and business person I've spoken to while we've been here.
01:19And we're also getting reactions from around the world in similar tones.
01:23So I really wanted to ask you to help us understand, not in a sense what your motivations are, because I get it, like you want Greenland.
01:31It makes sense.
01:32You're proud Americans, you're advocates of President Trump's policy.
01:36What I've struggled more with is how you imagine others react to this.
01:42I mean, if you put yourself in the position of your Danish counterpart, who's a proud Dane and a loyal executor of the Danish government's position, how do you envision this going, how does this go down?
01:57Well, I think you should start at a much higher level.
02:02Okay.
02:03We are in Davos at the World Economic Forum.
02:06And the Trump administration and myself, we are here to make a very clear point.
02:12Globalization has failed the West and the United States of America.
02:19It's a failed policy.
02:21It 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.
02:33The fact is, it has left America behind.
02:36It has left the American workers behind.
02:39And 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.
02:52We can have policies that impact our workers.
02:57Sovereignty is your borders.
03:00You're entitled to have borders.
03:02You shouldn't offshore your medicine.
03:04You shouldn't offshore your semiconductors.
03:07You shouldn't offshore your entire industrial base and have it be hollowed out beneath you.
03:12You should not be dependent for that which is fundamental to your sovereignty on any other nation.
03:19And if you're going to be dependent on someone, it darn well better be your best allies.
03:25Okay.
03:26And so that is a different way of thinking.
03:29It is completely different than the WEF.
03:32I viewed the WEF as not a flagpole in the middle, but in fact, they are the flag.
03:39Whichever way the wind blew, so it blew.
03:42You should have solar.
03:43You should have wind.
03:44Why are you going to do solar and wind?
03:47Why would Europe agree to be net zero in 2030 when they don't make a battery?
03:56They don't make a battery.
03:58So if they go 2030, they are deciding to be subservient to China who makes the batteries.
04:05Why would you do that?
04:07Why would the United States of America, which has oil and natural gas, try to convert to all electricity?
04:16China does not have oil and natural gas.
04:19Electricity and electric cars make perfect sense to them.
04:23That is practical and logical.
04:25So the point I want to make, and I want people to think about, is that America first is the job of our government to take care of our workers, to make sure their lives are better for it.
04:39And then, don't be America alone, right?
04:43But be America first.
04:44And I would suggest that policy is something for other countries to deeply consider, to take care of their own.
04:51And then we will work out wonderful relationships between us.
04:54But I want to point out, when America shines, the world shines.
05:00Close your eyes and think of a world without America in it.
05:05It becomes pretty dark, pretty darn quickly.
05:09When America shines, right?
05:11And everyone said, oh, you're going to do all these tariffs, you're going to destroy the world.
05:14The world's stock markets are up.
05:17Which ones of them?
05:19All of them.
05:20Can I bring you back to Greenland?
05:25No.
05:26It's unnecessary.
05:30The Western Hemisphere is vital for the United States of America.
05:35Our national security people are on it, and they care about it.
05:38And I'm going to leave it to them to address with our allies, with our friends, and with everyone how they work it out.
05:43But the Western Hemisphere matters to the United States of America.
05:46And the United States of America, as I've just articulated, really, really matters to the world.
05:51When America shines, the world shines.
05:54Because they all need to make sure America is strong and powerful to take care of them, God forbid.
06:00And so, I think America and the Western Hemisphere are vital to America.
06:06And I'm going to leave that to my national security people to address.
06:11Right.
06:12The rest of us, I think, are finding it harder to make that kind of separation, clearly.
06:17And I would be curious to know how the representatives of the UK and Canada might want to think about these issues.
06:27Do you see them starkly divided, as Secretary Lucknik would like us to have them?
06:32Does this logic of what's good for America is good for the world convince in this extraordinarily strong, extremely eloquent expression that we've just heard?
06:45You go first.
06:48Thanks, Francois.
06:49Lovely.
06:50We're friends.
06:51So, I'm very struck by and taken by the idea of putting your own country first and considering your own security and resilience.
07:08I think it's about three years ago now that I gave a speech where I coined the term Securonomics, which is all about building security and resilience in your economy.
07:19And the days when it didn't matter where things were made and who made them were in the past.
07:26And that's become increasingly clear since the pandemic, when we were over reliance on PPE and medicines from abroad.
07:35And then again, when Russia invaded Ukraine because of what happened to oil and gas prices.
07:43I guess for an economy like the UK, the way in which we will pursue our national interest is going to be different from the way in which the US pursues theirs.
07:53You are a much bigger economy and we can't do everything on our own and nor should we try to because we'd end up doing nothing well.
08:01But we do have real strengths in the UK, in our defence sector, in life sciences, in business and financial services.
08:10But we do rely on our allies as well.
08:14And even a country as big and as strong as America also relies on its allies.
08:20And I guess the sort of area where I think that we do need to sort of continue that dialogue between countries that share each other's values is how we can work together.
08:31In our mutual interests to advance our values in a very unstable and uncertain world.
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