Trump's trade man triggering tremors in China

Shanghai

AS A top trade official, he limited the Japanese cars and steel coming into the United States. He halted talks with China on a deal that would encourage investment between the two countries. And he tried to give US exporters an edge with special tax breaks.

When it comes to problems troubling working-class Americans and manufacturers, Robert Lighthizer, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for trade representative, has historically blamed the United States' trading partners, advocating aggressive retaliation for what he regards as widespread abuses of free-trade rules.

It is a philosophy he developed in the 1980s as a deputy US trade representative and fine-tuned in the decades-long career that fol…