98-0 She received bipartisan support from the U.S. to take over the U.S.-China trade war

President Biden‘s nomination of Chinese-American Katherine Tai as trade representative received unanimous support today in a procedural vote in the U.S. Senate, 98-0. The Senate is expected to confirm the nomination tomorrow.

Biden’s Trade Representative nominee Katherine Tai

The Senate voted at the end of the debate on the personnel case, a rare 98-0 vote, which means that the 47-year-old Tai Qi will be easily confirmed by both the Democratic and Republican parties tomorrow, officially becoming the U.S. Trade Representative. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) confirmed that he will vote to confirm Dike’s personnel case tomorrow.

Mary Lovely, an economist at Syracuse University in New York, N.Y., said, “I think the unanimous approval, 98-0, means that her views on trade are consistent with many senators.”

Once the vote passes tomorrow, Dykes will immediately begin to address a range of trade-related issues, including attempts to resolve a bitter dispute with European countries over aircraft subsidies and a tax on digital services, as well as trade battles with China and the implementation of new provisions for labor rights under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA).

Speaking on the floor before the vote, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said, “Dyche will be an outstanding U.S. Trade Representative with a strong record of credentials and a focus on protecting American workers and creating new, high-skill, high-income jobs here at Home.”

At her nomination hearing in late February, Dyche supported the use of tariffs as a “legitimate tool” to counteract China’s state-driven economic model, vowing to enforce trade agreements in a more robust manner, including those with China, and pledging to end “downward competition” in trade. The president has also pledged to end “downward competition” in trade.

Dykes was formerly the chief Democratic trade counsel on the House Ways and Means Committee and chief counsel for China at the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office (USTR).