Lighthizer has been a China hawk for his entire career
One of the reasons that risk trades are getting beaten up today is that Robert Lighthizer was named as the negotiator for the US-China trade deal.
The move reportedly came as a surprise to the Chinese. He's been a thorn in their side for his entire career.
Lighthizer opposed China's entry into the WTO in the 1990s and has been an unrepentant China hawk for his entire career.
Business Insider notes that he has a history of employing strange negotiation tactics.
"During his time in President Ronald Reagan's administration, Lighthizer was also known as a hard-nosed negotiator. In one famous incident, Lighthizer smoked an entire box of Cuban cigars as a tactic to throw off counterparts from the Soviet Union. During the same period, Lighthizer became known among Japanese officials as 'the missile man' after throwing a set of proposals back as a paper airplane."
It shouldn't be a big surprise that Lighthizer is leading the deal. Mnuchin has a much bigger portfolio at the Treasury and Lighthizer was recently freed up from NAFTA negotiations. Wilbur Ross has also been slowly sidelined.
Still, it's one more thing that's added to a steep wall of worry in trading today.
