New USTR chief gets to work

Robert Lighthizer, a former deputy United States trade representative and trade litigator, was officially sworn in Monday as the country’s new U.S. trade representative.    Robert Lighthizer was officially sworn in Monday as the United States’ new trade representative.
   “President Donald Trump made a promise to the American people – to fight for trade that puts America first.  And in choosing Robert Lighthizer as the U.S. Trade Representative, President Trump is keeping his promise to put America first,” said Vice President Mike Pence in a statement during the swearing in ceremony.
   Lighthizer has worked in Washington since the early 1970s, during which he served as the Senate Finance Committee’s chief counsel and staff director. President Reagan named him deputy U.S. trade representative in 1983, during which time he helped negotiate more than two dozen bilateral trade agreements.
   Since then, Lighthizer has worked as a trade litigator.
   “From manufacturing to agriculture, high-tech to financial services, Robert Lighthizer has distinguished himself as a tireless defender of America’s workers and America’s future, and now he’ll be doing it for the United States of America,” Pence said.
   “I am grateful to have been asked by the President to serve him on this very important issue of international trade,” Lighthizer said. “I further believe that when my grandchildren, who are here today, talk to their grandchildren, they will say that President Trump permanently reversed the dangerous trajectory of American trade, put America first, made our farmers, ranchers, and workers richer, and the country safer.”