BIDEN TO SELECT TOP WAYS AND MEANS TRADE STAFFER TO BE TRADE ENVOY
Tai oversaw China trade enforcement, had role in USMCA
President-elect Joe Biden is set to nominate Katherine Tai to be the top U.S. trade envoy, according to two people familiar with his plans.
Tai, who is chief trade counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee, will be tapped as the U.S. Trade Representative, according to the two people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about it.
The role is a Cabinet position, and the Senate will vote on whether to confirm Tai for the position. Biden’s selection of Tai, who is Asian American, reflects his promise to choose a diverse Cabinet that reflects the makeup of the country.
Her planned selection comes after members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and several advocacy groups met with Biden’s transition team last week to express their growing concern that there would be insufficient Asian American representation in top-tier spots in Biden’s administration.
Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Tai earlier oversaw China trade enforcement for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, setting U.S. strategy in trade disputes with China. Biden’s trade representative will inherit a trade war with China, put on pause by an interim trade pact in January that left many of the hardest issues unresolved and U.S. taxes remaining on $360 billion in Chinese imports.
Biden has said he plans no early reversal of the Trump tariffs, though that could come later. He also plans investments in infrastructure, education and manufacturing before seeking new trade deals. And he has proposed a $400 billion “Buy American” initiative, which could require renegotiating some existing accords.
As the top trade staffer at Ways and Means, Tai handled negotiations last year with the Trump administration over a revamped North American trade deal. Under pressure from congressional Democrats, Trump’s trade team agreed to strengthen the pact to make it easier for Mexican workers to form independent unions and demand better pay and benefits — decreasing the incentives for U.S. firms to move south of the border to take advantage of cheap and compliant labor.
The administration also dropped from the new U.S.Mexico-Canada Agreement what Democrats considered a giveaway to pharmaceutical companies that could have kept drug prices high.
Though she would be making an unusual jump to a Cabinet-level position, Tai is well-regarded by both the moderate and liberal wings of the party and is backed by prominent lawmakers, including Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.
Tai is considered a problem-solving pragmatist on trade policy, which often breaks down into an ideological divide between free traders and protectionists. In a letter to Biden on Nov. 24, Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici and eight other female House members praised Tai’s “experience and diplomatic abilities” and said she is “uniquely qualified” to deal with Canada and Mexico on the USMCA and with U.S.China trade tensions.
“Katherine would be the first Asian American and the first woman of color to serve in this role, breaking barriers and clearing the way for others to follow,” Chu, D-Monterey Park, added in a statement Wednesday.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., ranking member on the finance committee, called Tai “an inspired choice” for the position.
“Ms. Tai has the experience she needs to succeed as USTR, and her record of getting wins for American workers demonstrates she knows how to champion the values that matter to U.S. families,” Wyden said. “She worked closely with me and my staff to craft the strongest ever protections for American workers in a trade agreement, and pass them into law with bipartisan support.”