President Donald Trump’s pick to negotiate trade deals for the U.S., Robert Lighthizer, is already saying that he will not back down to China!
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.”
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.”
This guy is awesome! Nice choice, Trump!
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