Rhino: Agencies – US President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has asked Robert Lighthizer, who led a trade war against China, to return to the position of US trade representative in the new administration, according to the Financial Times, while Reuters denied these reports.
The British newspaper reported that Trump asked former US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to return to his former position, a cabinet-level position in the Executive Office of the President in charge of trade policy in the White House, but Reuters sources stressed that this is “completely untrue” and that no such conversation took place.
The Financial Times sources said that Trump’s offer comes at a time when Lighthizer is also competing for positions higher than the Office of the United States Trade Representative, such as Secretary of Commerce, White House economic advisor, or Treasury Secretary, but this position is likely to be offered to other competitors, including hedge fund managers Scott Bessant and John Paulson.
The possibility of appointing Lighthizer is likely to raise concerns in Beijing, as well as among U.S. trade allies, given how influential Lighthizer was during Trump’s trade wars
during his first term. Trump has vowed to impose high tariffs on all imports into the US, especially Chinese goods.
