Howard Lutnick is set to become Donald Trump’s new Commerce Secretary

The US President-elect Donald Trump According to a media report, has chosen the head of the financial services provider Cantor Fitzgerald, Howard Lutnick decided as the new trade minister. A reporter from the website Punchbowl announced this on Tuesday on the short message service X without citing a source.

Lutnick was previously considered a contender for the post of Finance Minister. He shares with Trump the goal of bringing industrial jobs back to the USA and increasing the acceptance of cryptocurrencies. Statements from the people mentioned were initially not available.

Longtime Trump friend

Lutnick is a long-time friend of Trump and, as co-chief executive, is organizing the transition phase until he takes power in January. In his day job, the 63-year-old runs the financial services provider Cantor Fitzgerald. The billionaire investor had the support of two close Trump confidants for the post of finance minister, who themselves are already expected to be integrated into the new government: Tesla boss Elon Muskwho will head a new agency for government efficiency, as well as the future health minister Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Department of Commerce has historically been responsible for a variety of tasks in the United States, from regulating maritime shipping to conducting the constitutionally mandated census every ten years. The most important task for the new Commerce Secretary at the moment is likely to be the implementation of export controls in the technology conflict with China. Trump imposed numerous restrictions through the Commerce Department in his first term, particularly on semiconductors. His successor, Democrat Joe Biden, continued this.