Former Dallas Mayor Obama’s Choice for Trade Representative
By Joseph J. Schatz, CQ Staff
Former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk, who emerged Thursday as President-elect Barack Obama ’s choice for chief trade negotiator, is something of an unknown quantity when it comes to trade policy.
A longtime aide to former senator and Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen, D-Texas, Kirk ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2002 against Republican John Cornyn , and would bring substantial public policy, negotiating and lobbying experience to the job of U.S. trade representative. But he has not been a major presence on the trade scene.
With deep roots in Texas, Kirk — a pro-business Democrat like his mentor Bentsen — may bring a special perspective to dealing with U.S.-Mexican trade relations. During the presidential campaign, Obama worried free-traders by calling for the re-negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
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