US President-elect Donald Trump has named Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick as his commerce secretary who will spearhead the tariff and trade agenda of his administration.
According to South Korea news agency Yonhap, US allies and partners have been paying keen attention to how Trump's trade policy would take shape and affect their economies after he takes office in January.
"He will lead our Tariff and Trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative," Trump said.
"In his role as co-chair of the Trump-Vance Transition Team, Howard has created the most sophisticated process and system to assist us in creating the greatest administration America has ever seen," he added.
If confirmed, Lutnick is expected to help realize Trump's trade policy proposals.
Trump plans to place tariffs on foreign goods, a move that would affect trade ties with South Korea and other partners, or up to 20 percent on all US imports while proposing a 60 percent tariff on Chinese goods.
He has also been pursuing what he calls the "manufacturing renaissance" under his "new American industrialism" as he highlighted America will see a "mass exodus" of manufacturing back to America from China, South Korea and other countries.
Lutnick has been a high-profile figure on Wall Street for more than 30 years. He joined Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services firm, in 1983 and rapidly rose through the ranks to become the company's president at the age of 29.
He received the Department of the Navy's Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest honor granted to non-military personnel by the Navy.
