Trump asks Lighthizer, key figure in China tariff war, to be US trade chief, report says

Robert Lighthizer, a firm supporter of tariffs, has been asked to return as US Trade Representative in US president-elect Donald Trump’s administration, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing several people familiar with talks in the transition team.

Lighthizer was one of the leading figures in Trump’s trade war with China and the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or Nafta, with Mexico and Canada during his first term.

Trump is beginning to assemble his top team after winning Tuesday’s election. Lighthizer had lobbied for a different role such as commerce secretary, the FT said.

The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Thursday, Trump announced he had picked Susie Wiles, one of his two campaign managers, to be White House chief of staff.

Trump aims to kick the aggressive trade agenda from his first term into higher gear with across-the-board 10 per cent tariffs on imported goods and even higher levies on imports from China and elsewhere. If enacted, they would push up consumer prices.

China’s top envoy to the United States warned on Thursday that there are no winners in tariff or trade wars, nor in wars over science and technology or industry.