WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee for Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said on Wednesday that the Biden-era subsidies for U.S. semiconductor manufacturing are an "excellent down payment" but need review.

"I think they're an excellent down payment as a structure. I think we need to get it right," Lutnick told a confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. "I think we need to review them and get it right. But as the way that Congress has said it, it's an excellent down payment in our ability to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to America."