dept of commerce

The Senate confirmed Howard Lutnick as the Secretary for the Department of Commerce on Tuesday, Feb. 18, by a vote of 51-45. Trade talks and tariff negotiations are expected to be top priorities for the secretary as the agency is expected to undergo several structural changes during the coming months. Current, estimates for employees at Commerce number around 50,000 people across a broad range of agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has been discussed in the media as a candidate for splitting up, relocation to another agency, and privatization.

President Trump’s nominee to become Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, cleared the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on Feb. 4 by a vote of 16 to 12. A floor vote is expected soon, possibly still this week. Among the agencies within the Commerce Department are two agencies that support core elements of regional innovation and technology-based economic development more broadly. The National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) oversees the Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the Economic Development Administration, which is one of the largest federally supported of core TBED and economic development efforts around the country. Lutnick’s support of the CHIPS Act and sustaining the current structure of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) remain unclear, according to Roll Call. Lutnick is currently CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a Wall Street financial services firm.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has recently signed two non-binding preliminary memorandums of terms (PMTs) with semiconductor companies to provide direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act. One company, the TSMC Arizona Corporation (TSMC Arizona), a subsidiary of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), will receive up to $6.6 billion to support the company’s investment of more than $65 billion in three greenfield fabs in Phoenix, Arizona. The second company, Samsung Electronics (Samsung), will receive up to $6.4 billion for two new logic fabs, an R&D fab, and an advanced packaging facility in Taylor, Texas, as well as an expansion to their existing Austin facility.

The Biden Administration issued an executive order earlier this week that provides guidance on the safe, secure, and trustworthy development and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the U.S. The EO includes guidance for agencies to work to provide new opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurs in AI and other directives.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced the designation of 31 Tech Hubs in regions across the country and 29 Strategy Development Grants. This announcement marks the first phase of the new Tech Hubs program, an economic development initiative authorized in the CHIPS and Science Act and designed to drive regional innovation and job creation by strengthening a region’s capacity to manufacture, commercialize, and deploy technology that will advance American competitiveness.

The NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), a national public-private partnership initiative within the US. Department of Commerce dedicated to serving small and medium-sized manufacturers through 51 state centers, including Puerto Rico, recently released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Client Impacts data following a survey of more than 9,000 manufacturing-related clients and businesses.  The MEP network reported assisting U.S. manufacturers in achieving the following: creating or retaining over 116,700 jobs; saving $2.5 billion in costs; generating $18.8 billion in new or retained sales; and, producing $6.4 billion in new client investments.

Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves called on business leaders to “lean into” partnerships with the public sector to strengthen the United States’ position as a global tech leader during remarks at a recent Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) summit. In his speech, Graves emphasized the crucial role that innovation in business models, human capital, and talent management strategies, including diversity and inclusion, play in driving U.S. tech leadership domestically and abroad.

The U.S. Department of Commerce recently launched the Capital Readiness Program grant competition, which will provide $93.5 million to help minority and other underserved entrepreneurs grow and scale their businesses and be administered by the Minority Business Development Agency.

Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the appointment of 32 members to the National Advisory Council on Innovation & Entrepreneurship (NACIE). Individuals chosen from a pool of more than 260 nominees will be charged with helping to identify and recommend solutions to drive the innovation economy.

The U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have published a request for information (RFI) to inform the planning and design of potential programs surrounding the semiconductor industry within the United States. Historically, the U.S. accounted for 40 percent of the global semiconductor manufacturing. In recent years, however, the global semiconductor industry has been dominated by Taiwan, South Korea, and China. As of 2019, the U.S. accounts for only 11 percent of semiconductor manufacturing.