The U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday voted unanimously to approve Robert Lighthizer, U.S. President Donald Trump's pick of the trade representative, to lead the trade office.

The Senate panel also approved a statutory waiver to allow Lighthizer, who had worked for foreign governments as a trade attorney, to serve as the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), moving his nomination to the full Senate.

If confirmed by the Senate as the USTR, Lighthizer would play a key role in delivering Trump's campaign promise to crack down on alleged unfair trading practices by other trading partners and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), analysts said.

"Congress established that the USTR is the primary official for developing and executing American trade policy...that means the sooner we get a confirmed USTR, the stronger Congress's voice will be in shaping American trade policy," U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch said Tuesday.

Lighthizer, who served as deputy USTR under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, has an extensive experience in international trade law over three decades. Endit

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