Biglaw, Politics

Skadden Partner Tapped For Key Trump Administration Trade Role

Though he's spent the better part of three decades in Biglaw, he does have relevant experience.

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Robert E. Lighthizer

Robert E. Lighthizer

Looks like Donald Trump can’t get enough of Biglaw partners. They populate his DOJ transition team, and they are his White House counsel (Don McGahn) and ambassador to Israel (David M. Friedman). Given the Donald’s penchant for appointing rich people to his administration, Biglaw is the place to find them.

Yesterday it was announced that a longtime Skadden partner, Robert Lighthizer, will be appointed as U.S. Trade Representative. Though he’s spent the better part of three decades in Biglaw, he does have experience as a deputy United States Trade Representative, as his firm bio notes:

Mr. Lighthizer was a deputy United States trade representative (USTR) with the rank of ambassador during the Reagan administration. The USTR is the cabinet level agency that develops and coordinates trade policy on behalf of the United States government and negotiates on trade matters for the president. Ambassador Lighthizer had responsibility within the USTR for industry, agriculture, investment and trade policy matters.

During his tenure, Mr. Lighthizer was involved in all the important trade issues. He regularly attended and chaired subcabinet policy meetings and often attended cabinet meetings when the USTR was unavailable. In addition, Mr. Lighthizer negotiated some two dozen bilateral international agreements on subjects ranging from steel to grain. He frequently participated in General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (now the World Trade Organization) and Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development meetings.

Trump’s selection of Lighthizer is generally seen as an extension of the President-elect’s hardline trade stance. As the National Law Journal notes, Lighthizer has a history of being outspoken on trade issues:

Lighthizer has supported what he dubs protectionist trade policy over the years. During the 2008 presidential election, he criticized Republican candidate John McCain, writing in The New York Times that McCain’s trade-friendly agenda amounted to a rebuke of conservative thinkers ranging from Alexander Hamilton to Reagan. Lighthizer also criticized the U.S. trade deficit with China and China’s approach to currency inflation in 2010.

Lighthizer seems pretty jazzed for the role of protector of protectionism, saying in a statement, “I am fully committed to President-elect Trump’s mission to level the playing field for American workers and forge better trade policies which will benefit all Americans.”

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I, for one, am looking forward to a return to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff era. The ’30s economy was nothing but “great,” right? RIGHT?

Trump Taps Skadden’s Lighthizer for U.S Trade Representative [National Law Journal]

headshotKathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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