Katherine Tai has been appointed by President-elect Joe Biden as U.S. trade representative for his incoming administration.
As a trade representative, Katherine Tai would be responsible for carrying out the country's import rules and brokering trading with other countries, including China.
Tai, who is fluent in Mandarin, would be the first woman of color to become USTR.
The appointment of Tai is considered as Biden's intent to shape a more multilateral trade approach to promote U.S. trade interests and address widening economic competition from China.
In a press release on Thursday, Tai is hailed as a key to critical insights as Biden's team assesses the trade deal that President Donald Trump sealed with China.
“Her deep experience will allow the Biden-Harris administration to hit the ground running on trade, and harness the power of our trading relationships to help the U.S. dig out of the COVID-induced economic crisis and pursue the President-elect’s vision of a pro-American worker trade strategy,” the Biden transition team wrote.
Tai would replace trade czar Robert Lighthizer, who implemented a forceful tact in negotiations with China. Though Tai may prefer multilateral enforcement mechanisms compared to Lighthizer, her leadership as USTR does not suggest a change to the cold stance toward China. She believes that China must be dealt with forcefully and strategically.
“They both also have a long history of dealing with China’s unfair practices, the most pressing trade issue of our time,” said former top White House trade negotiator Clete Willems. “Where Katherine’s approach is most likely to differ is on how she uses the WTO system and alliances to pressure China to change behavior.”
“As the former head of USTR’s China trade enforcement, Katherine has experience bringing and winning joint WTO disputes against China while partnering with countries like the EU and Japan and is likely to pursue a similar approach,” Willems, now a partner at Akin Gump, added in an email.
In a press release, Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va. said that Tai would be an ideal choice for USTR based on their period working together on the Ways and Means Committee.
“She is exactly the right kind of cooperative leader to help return rationality to our trade policy and restore the respect of our allies around the world,” Beyer said in the release.
The committee’s chairman, Massachusetts Democrat Richard Neal, shared the same sentiments in a release on Thursday.
“Her time with Ways and Means is filled with many accomplishments, but none greater than the key role she played behind the scenes in our successful work to improve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and secure widespread support for its passage,” Neal said.
“As the United States seeks to repair strained relationships with our partners around the world and address increasingly perilous challenges from China, Katherine will be an honorable and effective representative for this nation, our people, and our interests,” he added.
Biden said that he would not immediately eliminate the tariffs on China and instead probe tactics when competing with Beijing.
“I’m not going to make any immediate moves, and the same applies to the tariffs. I’m not going to prejudice my options,” Biden told columnist Thomas Friedman in an interview earlier this month.
