SCENARIOS: Kirk bring political skills to trade post

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, chosen by President-elect Barack Obama on Friday to be U.S. trade representative, brings a politician's skill to a job that puts him on the frontline of trade battles in Congress.

Kirk, who is not well-known in Washington trade circles even though he worked here in the 1980s and 1990s, would be the first black man to fill the post. As an outsider, he carries no scars from the sometimes bitter trade fights between Republicans and Democrats over the past eight years.

If confirmed, he would hold the title of ambassador and is likely to spend much time abroad. But he has far less international recognition than Obama's pick to lead the Commerce Department, Bill Richardson.

Here are some details on his background and the difficult issues he will confront:

HIS BACKGROUND

From 1995 until 2001, Kirk was the mayor of Dallas, the ninth largest city in the United States. He is currently a partner in the Dallas office of the law firm Vinson and Elkins, specializing in public finance and public policy.

He campaigned for Obama, saying that Hillary Clinton was too divisive a figure to effectively govern.

Kirk ran for the U.S. Senate in 2002, but lost that open-seat contest to current Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican.

He was an aide to Sen. Lloyd Bentsen during the 1980s and followed Bentsen to the Treasury Department in 1993, when President Bill Clinton tapped the Texas Democrat to be his first Treasury Secretary.

NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

Obama has promised one of his first acts in office would be to call the president of Mexico and prime minister of Canada "to fix NAFTA" by adding stronger labor and environmental provisions to the pact.

It will be Kirk's job to negotiate those changes to the 14-year-old agreement, and he will face pressure from U.S. business groups not to make concessions that would undo the many benefits they now enjoy.

Although many doubt there will be significant changes to the pact, Obama has criticized NAFTA for giving broad rights to business investors and only paying "lip service to the rights of labor and the importance of environmental protection."

CHINA

The U.S. trade deficit with China hit a staggering record $256.2 billion last year, more than tripling since President George W. Bush took office in early 2001.

Democratic lawmakers repeatedly pressed Bush to take action at the World Trade Organization against China's currency practices, which they said have unfairly boosted China's exports and curbed its imports from the United States.