US trade chief Tai to defend pursuit of nontraditional trade deals By Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Wednesday will defend the Biden administration’s decision not to pursue traditional free trade deals and argue her approach of working to ease non-tariff barriers is better for workers and supply chain resilience. Ahead of a policy speech at American University, Tai said she is starting to change minds in Washington and in other capitals that the traditional approach of cutting tariffs no longer works in the highly competitive global economy of the 21st century. “We are writing a new story on trade, one that makes us more resilient, our economy more…