WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he will nominate former Edison International CEO John Bryson to be commerce secretary, filling a top trade job with an energy expert and seasoned businessman.

Bryson would replace Gary Locke, who Obama has chosen to become US ambassador to China. His nomination could be thwarted by Senate Republicans, who have threatened to withhold support until Obama advances long-stalled trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Colombia.

Trade has become a centerpiece of Obama's efforts to boost the economy ahead of the 2012 presidential election. The White House has set a goal of doubling US exports over five years, a task Bryson would be charged with helping to complete.

Bryson is expected to play a big role in US-China commercial relations.

The Commerce Department oversees cases brought against China and other trading partners accused of engaging in unfair trading practices. Bryson would join US Trade Representative Ron Kirk as US co-chair of an annual forum known as the US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, where the two countries try to find solutions to trade irritants.

Bryson's energy background seemed to intrigue the president as much as his corporate experience.

Bryson was chairman and chief executive of energy group Edison International from 1990 to 2008. At the beginning of his career he founded the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group.

Obama announced his choice of Bryson in the middle of a review that could change how the Commerce Department works.

In March the president ordered a 90-day study to examine whether to consolidate a dozen trade agencies scattered across the federal government - including the US Trade Representative's office and the US Export-Import Bank - into a revamped Commerce Department focused more on exports.

Bryson's nomination will need Senate confirmation and Republicans warned that it is not guaranteed.

Reuters