Off the wire
• Refugee Food Festival to be observed in Europe in June: UN  • G7 finance meeting kicks off in southern Italy with focus on inclusive growth  • Trump signs executive order on cybersecurity  • 1st LD Writethru: Acting FBI director says will carry on with Russian probe  • Gold futures rise on weaker U.S dollar and lower traded equities  • Hezbollah says it has secured Syria-Lebanon border  • Putin advocates peaceful coexistence of Palestine, Israel  • OPEC sees pressure from U.S oil supplies  • U.S. approves 2-bln-USD missiles sale to UAE  • Ghana's Supreme Court judge elected FIFA disciplinary committee chairman  
You are here: 　 Home

U.S. Senate confirms Trump's pick for chief trade negotiator

Xinhua, May 11, 2017 Adjust font size:

U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed Robert Lighthizer as the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), paving the way for the Trump administration to start the renegotiation of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico.

The vote was 82-14 despite frustration among some Republicans with the administration on trade. Lighthizer is the last of the Trump administration's cabinet-level appointments to win Senate confirmation.

"Mr. Lighthizer's years of experience in public service, including as staff director for the Senate Finance Committee, as deputy USTR during the Reagan administration, and in private practice make him extremely well qualified to serve as our nation's trade representative," said Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, on Thursday.

Lighthizer was deputy U.S. trade representative under President Ronald Reagan and has worked on trade issues as a lawyer representing various manufacturers and high-tech companies.

He will play a key role in delivering Trump's campaign promise to crack down on alleged unfair trading practices by other trading partners and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

According to analysts, upon confirmation, Lighthizer is expected to move quickly to launch negotiations of NAFTA which Trump has claimed as one of the worst trade deals in history.

During his confirmation hearing in Mid-March, Lighthizer expressed his support for the Trump administration's "America First" trade policy.

He said he would look for ways to take more aggressive action against trading partners and reiterated his longstanding skepticism about the ability of the World Trade Organization to address trade disputes. Enditem