‘I agree with President Trump that we should have an « America First » trade policy, » Robert Lighthizer said last month, and he’s ready to renegotiate pacts and challenge Beijing practices
Robert Lighthizer has long complained that the United States dithered in the face of abusive Chinese trade policies, allowing its trade gap with Beijing to explode and American factories to close.
Now, the veteran trade lawyer may have a chance to do something about it.
As President Donald Trump’s choice to be U. S. trade representative, Lighthizer, 69, would be empowered to renegotiate and enforce trade deals, many of which the new president has condemned as destroyers of American jobs. On Thursday, the Senate Finance Committee is expected to vote on Lighthizer’s nomination, which had been held up by a political dispute over whether he needed a congressional waiver because he has worked for foreign companies.
A fixture in Washington trade policy circles for nearly four decades, Lighthizer has built a reputation as a shrewd negotiator. And like the president who chose him, Lighthizer represents a departure for a Republican Party that for decades favored the free flow of global trade as a boon to economic growth.
« I agree with President Trump that we should have an ‘America First’ trade policy, » Lighthizer said at his committee hearing last month, « and that we can do better in negotiating our trade agreements and be stronger at enforcing our trade laws. »
Signal of aggression
His nomination sends another signal that the Trump administration intends to upend decades of U. S. policy and act aggressively to block imports when it deems other countries to be acting unfairly.
« He’s a trade realist, » said Paul Rosenthal, a trade lawyer at the firm Kelley Drye & Warren. « He doesn’t necessarily subscribe to free trade as a religion as some people do. »
Lighthizer’s philosophy, Rosenthal suggested, boils down to: « How can we afford to be unilateral free traders when the Chinese don’t reciprocate? »
Drawing from experience in trade law and his work in the Reagan administration in countering Japanese imports, Lighthizer will most likely try to force China and other competitors to end what the Trump team sees as unfair trade.
FILE – Shipping containers are seen at the Port Newark Container Terminal near New York City.
Supporters of free trade, such as analysts at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, argue that a Trump-Lighthizer combative approach could backfire.
