President-elect Trump names Howard Lutnick commerce secretary

President-elect Donald Trump nominated Howard Lutnick, the co-chair of his transition team, as his commerce secretary on Tuesday -- a choice set to bring a tougher stance on China from the incoming administration.

Lutnick will also lead the country's tariff and trade agenda, with "additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative," Trump said in a statement.

Tariffs are a key part of Trump's economic agenda, and he has promised sweeping duties on all imports when he returns to the White House.

Lutnick is chief executive of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, and a Trump ally originally tipped as a frontrunner for treasury secretary.

But he was instead named to helm Commerce, a smaller department that works to boost U.S. industry and has a key role in policy to shore up the U.S. semiconductor sector and reduce reliance on Asia.

Under President Joe Biden, the Commerce Department stepped up export controls on critical technologies like quantum computing and semiconductor manufacturing goods, taking aim at access by adversaries like Beijing.

Trump's administration could harden this stance.

Lutnick has, during the U.S. election campaign, expressed support for a tariff level of 60 percent on Chinese goods, alongside a 10 percent tariff on all imports.

AFP