President-elect Joe Biden is set to nominate Katherine Tai, a trade lawyer for the House Ways and Means Committee, to the country’s top trade position.
Tai is expected to move into the position of U.S. trade representative, a role currently filled by Robert Lighthizer, according to Politico. She would be responsible for maintaining economic relationships with U.S. allies, some of whom have been burdened by President Trump’s trade wars.
Democrats rallied around Tai after the election, talking her up as a skilled negotiator who would succeed in the role of trade representative.
If she is confirmed, Tai would be the first woman of color and Asian American to hold the role, which would be in line with Biden’s vow to create a diverse administration.
Biden, who will take office next month, will also inherit Trump’s contentious relationship with China, particularly when it comes to the trade war that has escalated tensions.
Though the Biden administration is expected to take a more diplomatic role when it comes to international relationships, the president-elect has said he plans to hold China accountable.
In recent days, Lighthizer praised Trump’s economic approach to China, citing it as one of the administration’s greatest achievements, according to CNBC.
“This president realized that we had a trade system that has gone off the rails, that needed to be reset both in terms of what our objectives are, but also in terms of realizing that we have to deal with China as the biggest growing economy in the world and a very different system,” Lighthizer said on Thursday at the Milken Institute Asia Summit.
