In Trump cabinet, Commerce Secretary will
run trade policy
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[December 21, 2016]
By Melissa Fares and David Lawder
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters)
- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump plans to put his pick for Commerce
Secretary, billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, in charge of his get-tough
trade policy, a transition team spokesman said on Tuesday.
It is a signal of how Trump, who is also interviewing candidates to be
the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), plans to elevate a crackdown on
competitors in the world market and the overhaul of trade deals that he
says have hurt U.S. factory jobs.
The USTR will not be merged with Commerce, but Trump transition team
spokesman Jason Miller made clear that most trade policy decisions would
be steered by Ross, who made a good part of his fortune by investing in
distressed steel companies that benefited from stiff import tariffs
imposed by former President George W. Bush in the early 2000s.
"Mr. Ross not only has negotiated some very good deals over his
lifetime, he's also the person who worked closely with the
president-elect on crafting his trade policy over the administration,"
Miller told reporters during a daily transition briefing. "Mr. Ross will
be playing a big role in any trade particulars in this administration."
The move also marks a notable shift from trade policy management in
President Barack Obama's administration, where USTR Michael Froman was
seen as the main trade architect, negotiating a 12-country Pacific Rim
trade deal that ultimately failed to win approval in Congress.
"It looks like the USTR office is being downgraded and subordinated to
Commerce," said Derek Scissors, a trade expert at the American
Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think tank in Washington.
"That’s a big change because USTR is this small elite trade agency right
across from the White House.”
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, blamed multilateral trade deals with
Mexico and China for the loss of U.S. jobs, a core message during his
campaign, and said he would push to renegotiate the agreements.
Trump's administration is expected to crack down on Chinese trade
practices with enforcement cases, which has raised fears Beijing would
retaliate.
He has also pledged to hit companies that shift production from the
United States to other countries with a 35 percent tax on their exports
into the United States -- legislation he said his team would soon "write
up."
Ross has also been a key adviser on another top Trump priority: a
proposal to use tax credits to help spur $1 trillion of private and
public spending on roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
Trump plans to delegate coordination of that plan to the head of an
infrastructure task force, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday,
citing unnamed sources briefed on the plans.
INTERVIEWS FOR USTR
Trump has picked more than 20 nominees for his cabinet so far, packing
his team with billionaires from the business world, retired generals,
and loyalists.
[to top of second column] |
Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
He is continuing to interview candidates for his cabinet this week
at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach resort, where he will spend the
Christmas holiday -- including potential picks for the USTR job.
Elevating Ross' role as Commerce Secretary could make the USTR job
less attractive to potential candidates with top-tier trade
expertise, said Scissors at the American Enterprise Institute.
Traditionally, the USTR takes the lead on negotiations for trade
deals, while Commerce, a massive sprawling agency, handles
enforcement actions including anti-dumping and anti-subsidy
investigations of low-cost imports.
On Tuesday, Trump was slated to meet about the USTR position with
Jovita Carranza, who was deputy administrator with the Small
Business Administration in the George W. Bush White House and a
former executive with United Parcel Service Inc.
Carranza, now a consultant, was part of a group of Hispanic leaders
who met with Trump in July, after he had come under fire for his
hard line on immigration and criticism of an Indiana-born
Mexican-American federal judge.
She became part of his campaign's Hispanic advisory council and ran
a call center from her home during the campaign to boost support for
Trump among Hispanic voters in North Carolina, Miller said.
Trump has also discussed the USTR job with Robert Lighthizer, a
former deputy USTR during the Reagan administration, and Dan
DiMicco, former CEO of steel producer Nucor Corp.
In 2012, Obama proposed to combine Commerce and the USTR with the
Small Business Administration, Export-Import Bank, Overseas Private
Investment Corporation and U.S. Trade and Development Agency in one
streamlined department -- a plan that was rejected by Congress.
Trump has no plans to merge Commerce with the USTR, Miller said.
(Additional reporting by Dave McKinney in Chicago; Writing by
Roberta Rampton; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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