Tai confirmed as USTR

The Senate has confirmed Katherine Tai as the top U.S. trade representative by a bipartisan unanimous vote. Tai will be the first Asian American and first woman one color to hold the position.

She has experience working with China, and her nomination was supported by numerous ag groups. During her Senate confirmation hearing, she made it clear she would be tough on China.

“I know firsthand how critically important it is that we have a strategic and coherent plan for holding China accountable to its promises and effectively competing with its model of state directed economics,” Tai said during her February hearing. “I know the opportunities and the limitations in our existing toolbox. And I know how important it is to build what the president has termed ‘a united front of U.S. allies.’ We must recommit to working relentlessly with others to promote and defend our shared values of freedom, democracy, truth and opportunity in a just society.”

Tai has vowed to work for a U.S. trade policy that benefits ordinary workers and to work more closely with America’s allies to confront an increasingly assertive China.