Trump seen picking Lutnick for Commerce chief, Punchbowl reports

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to pick Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick to serve as Commerce secretary, a Punchbowl reporter said in a post on X on Tuesday, without citing any sources.

With Lutnick Trump would be tapping a long-time friend who backs the Republican’s vision to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. and promote the adoption of cryptocurrency.

The Commerce Department oversees a hodgepodge of disparate functions, from regulating ocean navigation to undertaking the census. But its oversight of American export controls has thrust it into the center of the U.S.-China tech war.

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.

The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fearing Beijing could weaponize American technology to strengthen its military, both the Trump and Biden administrations have used Commerce Department authorities aggressively to impose a raft of regulations to halt the flow of U.S. and foreign technology to China – with a special emphasis on semiconductors and the equipment used to make them.

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 its biggest tech firms, including Huawei Technologies and Semiconductor Manufacturing International, several steps behind their global competition in key technologies.

A native of New York City’s Long Island suburbs 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.