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Written by David Shepardson and Lananh Nguyen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Senate Commerce Committee said on Wednesday it will hold a Jan. 29 by President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Commerce, an agency that has become an important tool of the US in its efforts to curb China’s technology sector.
Trump tapped Wall Street CEO Howard Lutnick to lead the department and his trade and tax policy. The head of brokerage firm Cantor Fitzgerald, Lutnick will also have “increased direct responsibility” for the US Trade Representative’s office, Trump said last year.
Lutnick also runs the BGC Group business and is chairman of the The Newmark Group (NASDAQ:), a real estate services firm, and FMX, a platform for major Wall Street banks and brokers.
In a document seen by Reuters, Lutnick said that if confirmed he would resign from his positions at Cantor, BGC and Newmark and divest assets that include his interests in those organizations.
Lutnick, who is worth $1.5 billion, according to Forbes, also filed an extensive financial disclosure form detailing his affairs.
The Commerce Department oversees a wide range of activities with about 47,000 employees, from the US Census Bureau to weather forecasting, shipping and investment promotion.
The trade authority over export controls in sensitive US technology has been at the center of trade disputes with China, as well as investigating anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases that often result in tariffs. sanctions to protect local industries.
Fearing that Beijing could use American technology to strengthen its military, the Trump and Biden administrations have aggressively used Commerce Department officials to impose regulations to stop the flow of US and foreign technology to China – with an emphasis on semiconductors and the materials used to make them. see.
In the past two years, the US has granted extensive export controls on advanced chips and chipmaking equipment to China, which has limited its access to advanced chips for artificial intelligence and materials needed to produce the next generation of semiconductors.
In Biden’s final days in office, Commerce continued to ban AI chips and foreign technology, effectively finalizing rules that bar nearly all Chinese cars and trucks from the market. US and said Trump should consider banning all Chinese drones. Trump this week rescinded an executive order on AI security that Biden signed in 2023.
