Lighthizer Calls Friday Probably the Most Momentous Day in Trade History Ever

Dec. 15, 2019 (EIRNS)—Robert Lighthizer was on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” Sunday to discuss President Donald Trump’s breakthroughs in trade deals this past week in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the phase one trade deal with China. In response to journalist Margaret Brennan’s opening question about whether the China deal was moving forward, Lighthizer responded: “Friday was probably the most momentous day in trade history ever,” in reference to the USMCA having been submitted to Congress on the same day that Trump announced agreement on phase one of a China trade deal.

Lighthizer then referenced the fact that with the USMCA weighing in at around $1.4 trillion in trade, together with the China deal’s $600 billion, that is about half of the U.S. total trade (measured at about $4.2 trillion in 2018). He added that U.S. exports to China would nearly double after the second year of the deal, presently at $128 billion. “We’re going to go up at least by a hundred, probably a little over 100. And in terms of the agriculture numbers, what we have are specific breakdowns by products and we have a commitment for $40-$50 billion in sales. You could think of it as $80-100 billion in new sales for agriculture over the course of the next two years. Just massive numbers.”

Interestingly, Brennan tried to bait Lighthizer with Pelosi’s statement that “we ate their lunch,” referring to concessions the Republicans allegedly made to labor interests. Lighthizer observed these trade deals would garner support amongst Democratic voters, and said, “Remember, most of these working people voted for the President of the United States. These are not his enemies.”