Trump set to confront Mexico and China

Trump also renewed his episodic campaign to persuade companies to expand domestic manufacturing

President-elect Donald J Trump on Tuesday named as his chief trade negotiator a Washington lawyer who has long advocated protectionist policies, the latest sign that Trump intends to fulfill his campaign promise to get tough with China, Mexico and other trading partners.

Trump also renewed his episodic campaign to persuade American companies to expand domestic manufacturing, criticizing General Motors via Twitter on Tuesday morning for making in Mexico some of the Chevrolet Cruze hatchbacks it sells domestically. Hours later, Trump claimed credit after Ford said it would expand vehicle production in Flat Rock, Mich.

The choice of Robert Lighthizer to be the United States' trade representative nearly completes Trump's selection of top economic advisors and, taken together with the president-elect's running commentary on Twitter, underscores Trump's focus on making things in America. That is causing unease among some Republicans who regard Trump's views on trade as dangerously retrograde, even as they embrace the bulk of his economic agenda. Mainstream economists warn that protectionist policies like import taxes could impose higher prices on consumers and slow economic growth.

But some Democrats are signaling a readiness to support Trump. Nine House Democrats held a news conference Tuesday with the AFL-CIO president, Richard Trumka, to urge renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada.

"We wanted him to know that we'll work with him on doing that," Trumka said. "I don't think he has enough Republican support to do it, and rewriting the rules of trade is a necessary first step in righting the economy for working people."

Trump and his top advisors on trade, including Lighthizer, share a view that the United States in recent decades prioritised the ideal of free trade over its own self-interest. They argue that other countries are undermining America's industrial base by subsidizing their own export industries while impeding American importers. They regard this unfair competition as a key reason for the lackluster growth of the economy.

© 2017 The New York Times News Service