US trade hawk hunts bigger fish in Trump’s China battles

Nazak Nikakhtar has moved to frontline of Washington’s stand-off with Beijing

Before joining Donald Trump’s administration, one of Nazak Nikakhtar’s main jobs was to represent US catfish farmers seeking punitive duties against Vietnamese importers.

The 45-year-old Iranian-born trade lawyer and economist has since moved from the relatively small pool of the transpacific seafood business to the rougher waters of the US president’s trade war with China — a little-known hardliner playing a big role in implementing the administration’s combustible international economic agenda.

Ms Nikakhtar is the acting head of the commerce department’s bureau of industry and security — and awaiting confirmation to be its permanent chief — at a time when the unit is in the spotlight because of Mr Trump’s moves to expand export controls in the stand-off with Beijing.

This month, Mr Trump placed Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications network company, on a special export blacklist preventing American companies from selling to it without a licence, with more Chinese technol

ogy companies expected to suffer a similar fate.

Although the decision was made by the US president, Ms Nikakhtar is overseeing the crackdown. People familiar with her views say she has not shied away from warning American businesses of the danger of extensive economic relationships with China. And they say she is more in favour of disentangling the two economies rather than fostering closer ties.

“There’s no question she’s hawkish. She believes that far too much of the supply chain has moved to China and that whether pursuing self-interest or not, companies have prioritised the short term over the national interest,” said one person familiar with her views.

To some, this approach has placed Ms Nikakhtar squarely in the camp of Peter Navarro, the White House manufacturing policy chief and author of a book called Death by China. Others say that her lawyerly expertise aligns her more with Robert Lighthizer, the US trade representative leading the negotiations with Beijing — who is known for his rigour and attention to detail, in addition to a worldview that is deeply sceptical of globalisation.

Either way, Ms Nikakhtar’s rapid rise to a key position in the US administration worries some lobbyists and export control experts, who are looking for flexibility and pragmatism to prevent a backlash against US companies. “I think there will be growing concern in the business community about her,” said one former senior commerce department official.

Not only are US technology companies wary of stringent export controls because they could lose billions of sales to the Chinese market, but they are also worried such controls could hamper US innovation in the long run by cutting off their access to research and development in China.

A commerce department official said Ms Nikakhtar was “concerned about China’s damaging behaviour and any other country that poses a significant threat to US national security”. She had also “repeatedly explained to US industry that our technological leadership is synonymous with national security”. As recently as last week, Ms Nikakhtar “actively” engaged with US business on “relevant issues” including Huawei, the official said.