Trump picks China critic Lighthizer for US trade representative

Washington

PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump has picked lawyer Robert Lighthizer to head the US Trade Representative office, his transition team said on Tuesday in a further sign the incoming administration will take a tougher line on China.

"He has extensive experience striking agreements that protect some of the most important sectors of our economy, and has repeatedly fought in the private sector to prevent bad deals from hurting Americans," Mr Trump said in an emailed statement. "He will do an amazing job helping turn around the failed trade policies which have robbed so many Americans of prosperity."

Mr Lighthizer, who was deputy trade representative during the Reagan administration, would replace Michael Froman, the Obama administration's representative who led negotiations on a Pacific trade pact that would have covered nearly 40 per cent of the global economy and was seen as a counterpoint to China's rising clout. Mr Trump, however, argues that deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership kill American jobs. He has vowed to make smarter deals and slap punitive tariff…