New U.S. Trade Representative May Indicate Policy Shifts

A scholar of trade and foreign affairs, Dr. Jorge Dominguez was a professor with Harvard University who held responsibilities as Antonio Madero Professor for the Study of Mexico. Among Dr. Jorge I. Dominguez’ areas of research emphasis was on the U.S.-Mexico trade policy relationship, as well as the broader Latin American region.

One pivotal figure in defining this relationship over the next four years will be Katherine Tai, whom incoming president Joe Biden nominated in January as the next U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). As reported in Politico, Tai is known as a “straight shooter” who is experienced working in pressure-filled settings. In her previous position as House Ways and Means Committee head trade counsel, she oversaw hard-fought U.S.-Mexico-Canada negotiations that were successful in updating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

With confirmation running through the Democrat-controlled Senate Finance Committee, Tai has indicated that she will place a “worker-centered” trade strategy at the forefront. As she described it, people do not simply have roles as consumers, but as “workers and wage earners.” With a background as an attorney, she may also be likely to pursue complex and subtle pathways that were inaccessible to the previous administration’s USTR, who caused significant friction in both Brussels and Beijing with an often one-sidedly protectionist standpoint.