Trump’s Pick for Commerce Secretary Wants More Industrial Policy for Chipmakers
On the campaign trail and as recently as last month, Donald Trump and some of his closest allies criticized the Biden administration’s efforts to spur semiconductor manufacturing in the United States with costly industrial policy.
But on Wednesday, Howard Lutnick, the CEO tapped by Trump to be the next commerce secretary, signaled his support for continuing and expanding those Biden-era efforts—while also promising to reassess how the dollars are being spent.
“It is vital for America that we bring semiconductor manufacturing to the United States,” Lutnick said in response to a question from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D–Minn.) during Wednesday’s confirmation hearing with members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. “The CHIPS Act was an excellent down payment to begin that process.”
Separately, in response to a question from Sen. Maria Cantwell (D–Wash.), Lutnick promised to “review [CHIPS Act subsidies] and get it right.”
The CHIPS and Science Act was passed by Congress in August 2022, and authorized the Biden administration to distribute $53 billion to boost semiconductor manufacturing. Most of that money hasn’t been spent yet, giving the Trump administration a lot of leeway over how it is handled.
On the campaign trail, Trump frequently criticized CHIPS spending
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