US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick was put on the spot Thursday by Representative Madeleine Dean, and a banana, during a House Appropriations committee meeting.Lutnick, a former stockbroker, was defending US President Donald Trump’s tariff proposals, arguing they would teach American companies to become more self-reliant. But Representative Dean challenged him with a simple example: bananas.“Americans, by the way, loooove bananas. We buy billions of them a year. I love bananas. What’s the tariff on bananas?” Dean asked.Lutnick responded that the banana tariff “would be representative of the countries that produce them,” which he said was “generally 10 per cent.”Dean pointed out that Walmart had already raised banana prices by 8 per cent.Lutnick tried to reassure the committee that prices would drop as countries signed new trade deals with the US, but Dean focused on current realities.″But the cost is on the American consumer now, and on the businesses with the confusion now,” she said. “Mr secretary, I believe you know better. I believe you recognize that a trade deficit is not something to fear. I believe you know that predictability, stability, is essential for businesses. I wish you would show that truth to this administration.”Lutnick added, “There’s no uncertainty that if you build in America and produce your product in America, there will be no tariff.”Dean quickly responded by holding up a banana and stating, “We cannot build bananas in America.”While bananas can be grown in Hawaii and southern Florida, the current supply isn’t enough to meet the demand in the US, where people eat an average of 26 pounds of bananas per year.Later, Dean shared the moment on X, saying she was surprised to find herself “giving economic lessons to the US commerce secretary.” She followed up by noting, “Not everything can be produced in the US”The exchange sparked plenty of reaction online, with many praising Dean’s pointed use of the banana to make her case.
