Free Republic

House Republicans and Democrats are joining retail corporations to ask United States Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer to reduce tariffs on China in the midst of the Chinese coronavirus crisis. The National Retail Federation (NRF) is circulating a pre-written letter asking Lighthizer to reduce U.S. tariffs on China and extend tariff exemptions so certain corporations continuing to make their goods in China are exempt from having to pay significant costs to export their products back into the U.S. marketplace.

President Donald Trump was elected in part on his promise to change the direction of U.S. trade policy so it would put America first. He has kept that promise with new trade agreements and tough enforcement actions that break down foreign trade barriers, protect America’s competitive edge and stop the outsourcing of U.S. jobs. A key Trump success — and an important promise kept — has been to end the job-killing North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and replace it with a complete and long-overdue transformation. To replace NAFTA, Trump negotiated a modern, state-of-the-art trade agreement with Mexico and Canada...

Robert Lighthizer discusses USMCA and addresses Mexican president Obrador at gathering in Mexico.

Senior officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration said on Wednesday that proposed tariff rates on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods would be raised from 10 percent to 25 percent, in an effort to “encourage” China to change its trade policies. The Trump administration aims to push changes on China’s policies on intellectual property protection, technology transfers and subsidies for high technology industries. The move comes as the US and China have been tangled in a trade dispute, since President Donald Trump announced earlier this year that the US would apply punitive tariffs on steel and aluminum worldwide and...

The Senate on Thursday easily confirmed President Trump’s nominee for United States trade representative. After months of delays, Robert Lighthizer sailed through in an 82-14 confirmation vote. The bulk of the Trump administration’s trade agenda has been in a holding pattern, leaving issues such as the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the direction of future global deals up in the air while Lightizer waited for Senate approval... Republican Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Ben Sasse (Neb.) had written a letter to Lighthizer saying they would oppose his nomination because “your confirmation process has failed to...

Two Republican senators announced Wednesday that they will oppose Robert Lighthizer, President Trump’s nominee for United States Trade Representative, ahead of his likely confirmation this week. Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Ben Sasse (Neb.) told Lighthizer in a letter released Wednesday that they’d vote against him because “your confirmation process has failed to reassure us that you understand the North American Free Trade Agreement’s (NAFTA) positive economic benefits to our respective States and the nation as a whole.” “We fear that you do not have an appreciation for the millions of jobs created by this free trade deal, and that...

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for the post of U.S. trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, is a free trade skeptic, who served as deputy U.S. trade representative under President Ronald Reagan.In May of 2011, Lighthizer wrote an opinion piece in the Washington Times in response to a possible Trump campaign — in 2012, in which he asked:Given the current financial crisis and the widespread belief that the 21st century will belong to China, is free trade really making global markets more efficient? Is it promoting our values and making America stronger? Or is it simply strengthening our adversaries and creating a...