Lighthizer outlines U.S. trade policy priorities

Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Monday said the United States must encourage free and fair competition in the face of market distortions.    U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer outlined what he sees as the top trade policy priorities for the United States on Monday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) headquarters in Washington, D.C.
   “For decades, support for what we call free trade has been eroding among the electorate,” Lighthizer said, according to a transcript released by CSIS. “There has been a growing feeling that the system that has developed in recent years is not quite fair to American workers and manufacturing, and that we need to change.”
   According to Lighthizer, “[R]emoving market distortions, encouraging fair competition, and letting markets determine economic outcomes leads to greater efficiency and a larger production of wealth both here and abroad.”
   Many markets are not free or fair, he said, noting that some governments try to determine outcomes through subsidies, closing markets, regulatory restrictions and other similar strategies.
   In order to arrive at free and fair competition in the face of market distortions, Lighthizer said the U.S. needs to be proactive and do everything it can to make it expensive to engage in non-economic behavior, and to convince our trading partners to treat workers, farmers and ranchers fairly. He said the administration is looking at all U.S. trade agreements to determine if they are beneficial to the nation.
   Lighthizer also touched on the much debated subject of trade deficits, arguing that they do, in fact, matter.
   “One can argue that too much emphasis can be put on specific bilateral deficits, but I think it is reasonable to ask, when faced with decades of large deficits globally and with most countries in the world, whether the rules of trade are causing part of the problem,” he said.
   Lighthizer said China presents a major challenge when it comes to encouraging free and fair global trade, even going as far as to call the nation’s behavior a “threat” to the entire system of international commerce.
   “The sheer scale of their coordinated efforts to develop their economy, to subsidize, to create national champions, to force technology transfer, and to distort markets in China and throughout the world is a threat to the world trading system that is unprecedented,” he said.
    Compounding the issue, is the fact that the World Trade Organization is not equipped to deal with these problems, leaving the U.S. to find other ways to defend its companies, workers, farmers and economic system, he said.
   In regard to Asia in general, Lighthizer said the Trump administration wants to engage countries in the region in bilateral trade agreements, rather than multi-lateral or pluri-lateral deals. He said it is not only easier to negotiate better deals through bilateral agreements, but that those deals are also easier to enforce.
   Asked about the ongoing negotiations with Canada and Mexico to update the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Lighthizer said, “We’re moving at warp speed, but we don’t know whether we’re going to get to a conclusion. We’re running very quickly somewhere.”
   He said the objective is to get negotiations finished for a variety of reasons – including the upcoming elections in Mexico, coupled with the broad range of businesses, farmers and ranchers the deal impacts – but noted that the process of consulting industry is complicated and could take time.