Stakeholders Shift Focus to USTR

Hope among trade watchers are rising that the Senate will move swiftly to confirm Robert Lighthizer as U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in the wake of confirming Sonny Perdue as USDA Secretary.The USTR nominee's fate depends on whether the Senate Finance Committee can agree to waive a lobbying requirement for him and support the Democrats’ priority for miners’ health and pension benefits. Supporters are hopeful a deal can be struck soon, but say nothing is yet settled.Talks continue on granting the waiver as part of a plan that includes shoring up miners’ health and pension benefits, which Democrats are using as a bargaining chip in the omnibus negotiations and for supporting the USTR nominee, according to congressional sources. The idea is to include the waiver and miners’ benefit fix in the upcoming omnibus spending bill.