WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday easily confirmed former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk as the U.S. trade representative, making him the ambassador for a new, more limited Obama administration approach to free trade.
Kirk, the first African-American to hold the post, faces his first test on the U.S. border with Mexico, where the Obama administration’s cancellation of a pilot trucking program last week has prompted retaliation by Mexico, which imposed trade tariffs on 19 U.S. goods.
Washington has resisted opening the border to Mexican trucks because of concerns over the safety of the trucks and their drivers. The Bush administration instituted the pilot program as an interim solution.
Speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday in support of Kirk’s nomination, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, warned of the dangers of a trade war with Mexico and said Kirk had the best experience to diffuse the standoff.
The Senate approved the nomination 92-5.
