Robert Lighthizer
罗伯特·莱特希泽
1947–present
- United States Trade Representative (2017–2021)
- Principal architect of U.S. tariff strategy against China
Biography
Trade Protectionist
Robert Lighthizer was born in 1947 in Ohio and graduated from Georgetown University Law School. He served as Deputy USTR under the Reagan administration before spending decades as a trade attorney representing industries — such as steel — facing competition from China. A long-standing advocate of a tough U.S. trade stance toward China, he favoured unilateral pressure over multilateral mechanisms. He was appointed United States Trade Representative under the Trump administration in 2017.
Principal Architect of the Trade War
Lighthizer directed the Section 301 investigation into China, whose findings provided the legal basis for the 2018 tariff actions. He maintained that only sustained economic pressure could compel structural reform from China, leading U.S. delegations through multiple rounds of negotiations with Liu He and participating in the Phase One agreement talks. He left office in January 2021 at the end of the Trump administration.