Expect confrontation as ‘old trade warrior’ Robert Lighthizer takes on China, observers say
Known for his tough stance on Japan in the 1980s, the US trade representative will soon release the results of a probe into China’s business practices
When Robert Lighthizer was sworn in as US trade representative in May, the United States and China were widely expected to move towards a more confrontational trade relationship.
Lighthizer is known for his tough handling of trade between the United States and Japan in the 1980s. And observers say that unlike US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and economic adviser Gary Cohn, who are seen as more accommodating, Lighthizer appears to hold huge sway over US-China trade policy under President Donald Trump.
“He [Lighthizer] knows trade remedies quite well. His team is not so much big but is very powerful,” according to a representative of the American business community in China who was speaking on condition of anonymity. “The trade confrontation between China and the US is set to heat up.”
Trump threatened to take tough trade actions against China during his election campaign, vowing to name Beijing a currency manipulator. Tensions over trade in the first months of the Trump presidency, however, were often overshadowed by Washington’s call on Beijing to step up pressure against North Korea.
But with his tax cuts passed, and frustrated that China has not done enough to rein in Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions, Trump’s hardline stance on trade has resurfaced.