President-elect Donald Trump has picked Howard Lutnick, a longtime friend and chief executive of the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, as his nominee for Commerce secretary, according to three people with direct knowledge of the decision.

If confirmed, Lutnick would oversee a department that helps boost domestic manufacturing and US companies. It is often a key player in areas where business and national security interests collide, such as restricting technology exports to China or enacting tariffs to protect US steel.