US Senate committee to hold Jan. 29 hearing on Trump commerce nominee (updated)

Newmark

23/01/2025 03:59

(Adds more details, comments in paragraphs 5-10)
    By David Shepardson and Lananh Nguyen
       WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The Senate Commerce
Committee said on Wednesday it would hold a Jan. 29 hearing on
President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Commerce
Department, the agency that has become a key U.S. tool in its
efforts to constrain China's tech sector.
    Trump tapped Wall Street CEO Howard Lutnick to lead the
department and his trade and tariff strategy. The head of
brokerage firm Cantor Fitzgerald, Lutnick will also have
"additional direct responsibility" for the U.S. Trade
Representative's office, Trump said last year.
    Lutnick also runs brokerage BGC Group  BGC.O  and is
chairman of Newmark Group, a commercial real estate services
firm, and FMX, a platform owned by some of Wall Street's biggest
banks and traders. 
    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 including his interests in those
entities.
        Lutnick, who is worth $1.5 billion, according to Forbes,
also filed an extensive financial disclosure form that details
his holdings.
  
        The Commerce Department oversees a sprawling array of
functions with nearly 47,000 employees, from the U.S. Census
Bureau to weather forecasting, ocean navigation and investment
promotion.
  
        Commerce authority over export controls on sensitive
U.S. technologies have put it at the center of trade conflicts
with China, as well as investigating anti-dumping and
anti-subsidy cases that often result in punitive tariffs to
protect domestic industries.
  
        Fearing Beijing could weaponize American technology to
strengthen its military, both the Trump and Biden
administrations have used Commerce Department authorities
aggressively to impose 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.
  
        Over the past two years, the U.S. has 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.
  
        In Biden's final days in office, Commerce further
restricted 
    AI chip and technology exports, finalized rules effectively
bar nearly all Chinese cars and trucks from the U.S. market and
said Trump should consider banning all Chinese drones. Trump
this week rescinded an executive order on AI safety that Biden
signed in 2023.

 (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Sandra Maler and
Gerry Doyle)
 ((David.Shepardson@thomsonreuters.com; 2028988324;))