The U.S. Senate confirmed Robert Lutnick as Commerce secretary

The Senate confirmed Howard Lutnick as Commerce Secretary on Tuesday by a vote of 51 to 45.

Mr. Lutnick is a Jewish financier, China News reported, citing public information. He was also one of Trump's campaign donors and served as a co-chair of the new Trump transition team, helping Trump vet and advise on cabinet nominees.

Trump, who has threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on U.S. Allies and rivals, hopes not only to raise revenue through tariffs but also to pressure other countries to act in line with U.S. priorities.

Lutnick, a former CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, has been a proponent of imposing tariffs on U.S. imports. A spokesman for Lutnick told AFP that he had resigned as Cantor Fitzgerald.

He will head a department that defends U.S. commercial interests and oversee an agency that restricts exports of certain technologies, including semiconductors, to adversaries such as China and Russia. The role will also put him at the forefront of Washington's tariff and trade agenda, working with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

The Commerce Department is in charge of a nearly US $53 billion (nearly S $71.2 billion) subsidy programme to stimulate US chip manufacturing, which Mr Lutnick earlier called an "excellent down payment", but the investment must be reviewed.