Washington — US president-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would nominate Wall Street CEO Howard Lutnick to serve as commerce secretary.
Lutnick, the head of brokerage firm Cantor Fitzgerald, will also have direct responsibility for the Office of the US Trade Representative, Trump said.
With the appointment, Trump taps a long-time friend who backs the Republican’s vision to bring manufacturing back to the US and promote the adoption of cryptocurrency.
The commerce department oversees a hodgepodge of disparate functions, from trade and regulating ocean navigation, to undertaking the census. But its oversight of US export controls has thrust it into the centre of the US-China tech war.
Lutnick also runs brokerage BGC Group and is chair of Newmark Group, a commercial real estate services firm, and FMX, a platform owned by some of Wall Street’s biggest banks and traders. Shares of BGC fell 2%.
Fearing Beijing could weaponise US technology to strengthen its military, both the Trump and Biden administrations have used commerce department authorities to impose regulations to halt the flow of US and foreign technology to China, with a special emphasis on semiconductors and the equipment used to make them.
Over the past two years, the US issued sweeping export controls on advanced chips and chipmaking equipment to China, which has limited its access to cutting-edge chips for artificial intelligence and equipment needed to produce the next generation of semiconductors.
Unlike other members of Trump’s inner circle, Lutnick does not speak about China often. He is a big proponent of tariffs, especially aimed at China. According to the New York Times, the investment banker said in a podcast interview last month: “Don’t tax our people. Make money instead. Put tariffs on China and make $400bn.”
Cantor Fitzgerald has offices in Hong Kong. Last year, it underwrote Chinese biotech firm Adlai Nortye’s Nasdaq listing, the first successful Chinese company to list since Beijing implemented new rules requiring Chinese firms to obtain a special filing before listing shares overseas.
The next commerce secretary will be responsible for enforcing a range of rules put in place to hamper China’s development of artificial intelligence and keep some of its biggest tech firms, including Huawei Technologies and Semiconductor Manufacturing International, several steps behind their global competition in key technologies.
Commerce under Trump’s first term “self-initiated” dozens of anti-dumping and antisubsidy investigations against Chinese imports, rather than waiting for petitions from US manufacturers.
As co-chair of Trump’s transition team, Lutnick had been seen for weeks as a possible candidate for a position in the Trump administration, including treasury secretary.
A native of New York’s Long Island with a background in trading and real estate, Lutnick has been one of Trump’s top Wall Street advocates, hosting fundraisers and touting his policies in the media.
Reuters
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.