[CTC] Statements on USTR pick

Tue Jan 3 10:02:56 PST 2017

By Sierra Club, Rep. Levin and GTW…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 3, 2017

Contact: Trey Pollard trey.pollard at sierraclub.org <mailto:trey.pollard at sierraclub.org> 
View as webpage <http://content.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2017/01/trump-s-trade-rep-pick-eclipsed-hypocrisy-pro-tpp-cabinet> 
Trump’s Trade Rep Pick Eclipsed By Hypocrisy of Pro-TPP Cabinet

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he plans to appoint Robert Lighthizer as the next U.S. Trade Representative.

Lighthizer joins a proposed cabinet that includes 13 people that have supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and/or a broader corporate trade agenda. Trump's team has also made clear <https://insidetrade.com/daily-news/carranza-potential-ustr-pick-ross-be-very-intimately-involved-trade-agenda> that TPP-supporter Wilbur Ross, Trump's pick for Commerce Secretary, will have a heavy hand in directing the administration's trade policy. 

In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:

“Donald Trump’s appointment of Robert Lighthizer as U.S. Trade Representative is eclipsed by the hypocrisy of selecting a cabinet stocked with TPP supporters. Why is Trump packing his cabinet with backers of the TPP and corporate trade after spending his campaign bashing the same deals? The answer is simple: Trump has no intention of overhauling our trade policies to support workers, communities, and our environment. This makes clear what should have already been obvious: Trump saw an opportunity to exploit widespread opposition to disastrous trade deals on the campaign trail, and no one should expect him to keep his word.  In fact, about two-thirds of Trump’s cabinet picks have supported the TPP or a corporate trade agenda. 

“Don’t be fooled: the corporate cabinet Trump has put forward cements the fact that Trump represents a real threat to working families, healthy communities and a stable climate.”

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http://levin.house.gov/press-release/levin-statement-lighthizer-nomination-ustr <http://levin.house.gov/press-release/levin-statement-lighthizer-nomination-ustr>
Levin Statement on Lighthizer Nomination as USTR
Jan 3, 2017 Issues: Trade <http://levin.house.gov/issues/trade>
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Sander Levin issued the following statement regarding Robert Lighthizer being chosen as U.S. Trade Representative:

“Bob Lighthizer understands the harmful impact of unfairly traded imports on U.S. workers and businesses.  I have worked with him over the years to strengthen U.S. trade remedy laws.  His challenge will be to bridge very disparate opinions in a Trump Administration and create responsible trade policy that moves beyond the Trump campaign slogans.”

For Immediate Release:                                 Contact: 
Jan. 3, 2016                                                     Matt Groch (202) 454-5111 <tel:(202)%20454-5111>  mgroch at citizen.org <mailto:mgroch at citizen.org>

Choice of Robert Lighthizer as USTR Strengthens Prospects for a New Approach to U.S. Trade Policy

Former Reagan Trade Official and Longtime Critic of Dogmatic “Free-Trade” Republicans Nominated to Join Trump Cabinet Packed With TPP Proponents

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The nomination of Robert Lighthizer to be U.S. Trade Representative signals President-elect Donald Trump’s interest in altering the trade policy approach that has prevailed through Republican and Democratic administrations for the past two decades. Lighthizer has consistently noted that historically Republicans favored trade policies <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/opinion/06lighthizer.html> designed to obtain specific national economic goals and criticized the Republican Party’s rigid support over recent decades of “free trade” ideology. His views put him at odds with most of Trump’s other high-level appointees who represent the very perspective on trade that Lighthizer has long critiqued. 

“Lighthizer is very knowledgeable about both technical trade policy and the ways of Washington, but what sets him aside among high-level Republican trade experts is that for decades his views have been shaped by the pragmatic outcomes of trade agreements and policies rather than fealty to any particular ideology or theory,” said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch. “I don’t know that he would agree with progressive critics of our status quo trade policies about alternative approaches, but he also has had quite a different perspective on trade policy than the Republican congressional leaders and most of Trump’s other cabinet nominees who have supported the TPP and every past trade deal.”

President-elect Donald Trump has filled many top administration posts with proponents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a pact that Trump railed against during his campaign. Trump appointees who publicly advocated for the TPP include Wilbur Ross (Secretary of Commerce), Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerman (Secretary of State), Gov. Terry Branstad (Ambassador to China), Gen. James Mattis (Secretary of Defense) and Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn (Director of National Economic Council) – not to mention Vice-President-elect Mike Pence. 

“Thankfully there was never a congressional majority for the TPP in the 10 months after it was signed so the TPP was dead before the election,” said Wallach. “But even so, most of Trump’s cabinet members will be inclined to grab the shovel from Trump’s hands before he can bury the TPP’s moldering corpse by formally withdrawing the U.S. as a signatory.”

Other prominent TPP supporters nominated to join the Trump administration include:
·     Gen. James Mattis – TPP supporter named Secretary of Defense
·     Gov. Rick Perry – TPP supporter named Secretary of Energy
·     Rep. Ryan Zinke – Supporter of Fast Track for TPP named Secretary of Interior
·     Rep. Tom Price – Supporter of Fast Track for TPP named Secretary of Health & Human Services
·     Dr. Ben Carson – TPP supporter named Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
·     Elaine Chao – TPP supporter named Secretary of Transportation
·     Mike Pompeo – TPP supporter named CIA Director
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