Senate confirms Trump's pick for US trade representative

The US Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee to serve as US trade representative, clearing an obstacle to the launch of a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

After several delays in the voting process, the Senate on Thursday finally confirmed attorney Robert Lighthizer by a wide 82-14 margin due to the support of numerous opposition Democratic lawmakers, Efe news reported.

The 69-year-old Lighthizer formerly held the position of deputy US trade representative in the 1980s under former President Ronald Reagan.

Thursday's vote was important because Congress had required the Trump administration to have a confirmed trade representative before launching talks on re-negotiating NAFTA, which was signed by the US, Mexico and Canada in 1992 and took effect in 1994.

Even so, those negotiations are still months away because the administration must first give Congress 90 days notice prior to the formal start of talks.

Trump has called NAFTA a disaster for American workers and also criticised the big annual US trade deficits with Mexico that have stemmed from that agreement.

--IANS

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