U.S. trade bulldogs' aide in line for key USTR post

By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top aide to Democratic lawmakers who have long called for tougher enforcement of U.S. trade agreements is expected to join President Barack Obama's trade office as the chief enforcement attorney, a congressional aide said on Tuesday.

Tim Reif's last day as trade staff director on the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee was on Friday, the aide said, speaking on condition he not be identified.

Reif left to join USTR shortly as general counsel, the congressional aide said.

An assistant in USTR's press office said she could not confirm that Reif had been tapped to become USTR general counsel, a job that does not require Senate confirmation.

USTR still does not have an official spokesperson one month after Obama took office and the White House press office did not immediately return a call asking for comment.

Obama's choice for U.S. Trade Representative, former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, is still waiting to be confirmed by the Senate. There is still no date for a hearing on his nomination.

Reif is closely associated with two lawmakers -- House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, and House Trade Subcommittee Chairman Sander Levin, a Michigan Democrat -- who regularly criticized former President George W. Bush's administration for not filing more trade cases against China and other U.S. trading partners.

Concerns raised by the two lawmakers also blocked approval of free trade agreements the Bush administration negotiated with Colombia and South Korea.

In a letter last year to Bush, Rangel and Levin complained the Bush administration had brought "an average of less than three WTO (World Trade Organization) cases per year. By contrast, the Clinton administration brought an average of 11 WTO cases per year."

The senior Democrats outlined 21 cases and enforcement actions the Bush administration should take, topped by a recommendation that the Bush administration bring a WTO case against China for currency manipulation.

Reif previously worked for USTR as an associate general counsel from 1989 to 1993, when he helped negotiate rules on unfair trading practices and dispute settlement procedures that became part of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the world trade pact that created the WTO.

Obama also is widely expected to nominate Demetrios Marantis, a top aide to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, to one of the three deputy USTR slots.

That would give a senior aide from both of Congress' key trade committees an influential role in shaping trade policy in the Obama administration.

Danny Sepulveda, who worked on Obama's Senate staff, now heads the legislative affairs office at USTR.

(Reporting by Doug Palmer; editing by Vicki Allen)