WASHINGTON • US President Joe Biden's nominee for trade representative, Ms Katherine Tai, will have a confirmation hearing next week, a key step for the new administration to start rebuilding battered trade ties with the United States' allies.

The Senate Finance Committee said on Thursday that it had scheduled a hearing for her on Feb 25.

Committee chairman Ron Wyden said Ms Tai had the needed experience to succeed in the role and vowed to advance her nomination as quickly as possible. "Her record of getting wins for American workers demonstrates she knows how to champion the values that matter to US families," he said.

Ms Tai, who has since 2014 been Democratic trade lawyer for the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, earned praise from Democrats and Republicans for negotiating stronger labour provisions as part of last year's US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.

She previously served at the US Trade Representative's Office as head of China trade enforcement.

If confirmed as the first woman of colour to serve as US trade representative, she will play a pivotal role in implementing Mr Biden's goals of rebuilding ties with US allies, re-energising manufacturing at home, and pushing China to alter its non-market trade and state subsidy policies.

A US-born daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, she speaks fluent Mandarin.

Mr Biden has not taken major steps on trade policy since taking office nearly a month ago, and Ms Tai's confirmation process has lagged behind those of other Cabinet officials.

But the Trade Representative's Office last week said it would not implement a new round of tariffs in a long-running Boeing-Airbus aircraft subsidy dispute, adding that it looks forward to resolving the dispute with European allies once Ms Tai is confirmed.

REUTERS