What to Know About Robert Lighthizer, ‘Trade Czar’ & Potential Member of Trump’s Cabinet
© AP Photo / Jose Luis Magana
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President-elect Donald Trump has already tapped Susan Wiles as the new White House chief of staff for when he takes office in January. Speculation is rife as to who could be the US trade representative in Trump's Cabinet.
Robert Lighthizer has been suggested as a key contender for the post in a future Donald Trump Cabinet overseeing trade.
Lighthizer, who was Trump’s US trade representative during his first tenure in the White House, has been asked to reprise the role, the Financial Times reported, citing insiders. The report added that Lighthizer had been hoping for a more high profile post, such as Treasury or commerce secretary.
There has not been any comment from Lighthizer himself. However, Reuters cited its own sources as refuting the claim that he has been offered the post of US trade chief.
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President-elect Donald Trump has tapped his senior campaign adviser Susan Wiles to serve as his White House chief of staff when he takes office in January.
🔸 Wiles currently serves as Trump’s campaign co-chair alongside Chris… pic.twitter.com/g6BJhFeBUT
President Donald Trump, accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence, left, and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, arrives to speak at an event at the White House to sign a new North American trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020, in Washington.
© AP Photo / Alex Brandon
What to Know About Robert Lighthizer:
Lighthizer spent close to three decades as an attorney at Wall Street Law firm Skadden Arps protecting the US steel industry against foreign competition.
He convinced the George W. Bush administration to impose tariffs on steel imports to protect the US industry in the early 2000s.
Trump and Lighthizer are closely aligned on protectionist trade issues.
As Trump’s trade czar, Lighthizer slapped tariffs of up to 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum imports from much of the world, with similar tariffs levied on China’s exports to the US.
He was Trump’s point man in a deal with Canada and Mexico to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Lighthizer wrote in The Economist in March that the United States’ “bold experiment” with eliminating tariffs “has failed.” He argued that the new tariffs of at least 10% that Trump has vowed to implement are needed “to reduce America’s trade deficit and to speed up its reindustrialization.”
In his 2023 book, No Trade Is Free, he suggests that tariffs should be imposed on all imports “at a progressively higher rate year after year until we achieve balance.”
8 November, 15:45 GMT
