The Senate yesterday confirmed Robert Lighthizer, President Trump’s nominee for United States Trade Representative (USTR) by a vote of 82-14. President Trump’s trade agenda has been mostly on hold while Lighthizer was waiting for confirmation, including renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the direction of future global trade issues. One of Lighthizer’s first orders of business will then be to consult Congress on the administration’s plans to renegotiate NAFTA. His confirmation clears a hurdle before the U.S. can start 90 days of consultations preceding NAFTA talks.
President Trump called NAFTA a disaster during his election campaign. He continues to threaten to withdraw from NAFTA with Mexico and Canada if discussions on the trade pact do not go as he plans.
The Senate Finance Committee on April 25 unanimously advanced his nomination as part of a bipartisan agreement to consider coal miners’ benefits legislation. Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee also insisted on a waiver for Lighthizer’s nomination because he had previously worked for foreign governments on trade. The waiver and the coal miners’ benefits were ultimately included in the fiscal 2017 omnibus spending bill that Congress passed last week.
Despite the delay in confirmation, Lighthizer has garnered a wide range of support across trade groups from agriculture to technology. “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 Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT).
“It is clear that Mr. Lighthizer not only understands how the global trading system works but also how it sometimes breaks down,” said Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), the Senate Finance Committee top Democrat.
