Katherine Tai: Joe Biden’s US trade chief pick ‘unmatched’ on China issues, would not be soft on Beijing

As America’s chief enforcement lawyer on China trade issues during the Obama administration, Katherine Tai was charged with corralling partners to join the United States in a trade dispute against China on restrictions involving exports of rare earth elements – a market dominated by China.

It was a landmark case – one that stoked regional tensions between China and its neighbours, but which also helped raise awareness on some of the major grievances that trading partners had with Beijing, a decade into its World Trade Organization (WTO) membership.

“We would fly to Brussels or Geneva or Tokyo, building that coalition,” said Benjamin Kostrzewa, a Hong Kong-based trade lawyer with Hogan Lovells who worked on Tai’s team. “Bringing Japan and the EU along was no easy feat – especially Japan, because they had, at that point, not brought a WTO dispute against China. Her combination of legal acumen and personal relationship were instrumental in building that case.”

Fast forward eight years, and Tai, a native Mandarin speaker , is US president-elect Joe Biden’s choice to lead the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), and is described as the first true China trade expert to have taken the top US trade job.

“Her experience successfully litigating trade disputes with China is unmatched. She intimately understands the challenge to the global trading system posed by China, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the WTO as a tool to advance US interests,” said Lauren Mandell, a trade lawyer with Wilmer Hale who worked with Tai on China issues at the USTR.

Tai’s name has been linked with the role since soon after Biden’s victory became clear. Over that time, some insiders privately suggested that her jumping from a congressional committee role to the US’ top trade job might be “a bit of a leap”.