On Monday, May 15, 2017, Robert Lighthizer was sworn in as U.S.
Trade Representative (USTR), after the U.S. Senate confirmed his
nomination by President Donald Trump, following a long process
which lasted four months.
Lighthizer is a veteran international trade lawyer, with over
three decades of experience in both private practice at a prominent
U.S. law firm and the government, where he served as chief counsel
and staff director for the Senate Finance Committee, and Deputy
USTR during the Reagan administration. While Lighthizer is well
known as a zealous advocate for the U.S. domestic interests
—including representing the U.S. steel industry— his
confirmation was partly delayed due to having to receive a
Congressional waiver for previously representing foreign states.
U.S. law prohibits USTR candidates from working on behalf of
foreign governments; in his private practice, Lighthizer
represented the Government of Brazil in a 1985 ethanol-imports
trade dispute and
