Trump’s Trade Representative Could Negotiate for His Biggest Client’s Industry
- Lighthizer represented U.S. Steel in various trade disputes
- USTR nominee disclosed assets of at least $18.6 million
Workers unload steel rods from a ship at the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in Hong Kong, China, on Dec. 7, 2015.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergPresident Donald Trump’s pick to become the top U.S. trade representative could find himself making policy decisions that affect his biggest former client, a review of his ethics agreement shows.
As a private attorney, Robert Lighthizer represented U.S. Steel Corp., the nation’s second-biggest producer in an industry that Trump has promised to revive by renegotiating trade rules. Lighthizer has agreed to sit out for two years on any decisions that specifically involve former clients at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. But that won’t block him from matters that affect the industry as a whole, according to experts who reviewed the agreement posted Thursday on the website of the federal Office of Government Ethics.