Lawyer Robert Lighthizer has been picked by President-elect Donald Trump for U.S. trade representative, MSNBC reported Monday night.
Lighthizer was deputy trade administrator under President Ronald Reagan.
Outside of government, Lighthizer has worked on trade issues as a lawyer, representing manufacturing, agricultural and high-tech companies, according to his law firm biography.
Lighthizer's bio also states that he focused on "market-opening trade actions on behalf of U.S. companies seeking access to foreign markets."
Lighthizer would play a key role in Trump's trade agenda. The president-elect has vigorously opposed the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership pact, but has said he would ink one-on-one trade deals with individual countries. Trump has also signaled a tough stance on trade with China, including levying a hefty tariff on Chinese imports.
MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell noted that Lighthizer's time in the Reagan administration saw him involved in trade policies that were "exactly the opposite of everything Donald Trump has announced to be his own trade policies. All of the trade agreements that are being complained about now were born during the Reagan era, including NAFTA."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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