President-elect Joe Biden has selected Katherine Tai, the House Ways and Means Committee's chief trade lawyer, to serve as U.S. trade representative, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the decision.

Tai, 45, who was strongly backed by congressional Democrats, played a key role in negotiating stronger labor provisions with the Trump administration in the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade deal, and has the support of labor and business circles.

A Yale and Harvard-educated Asian-American who speaks Mandarin and taught university English for two years in Guangzhou, Tai headed China trade enforcement at the U.S. Trade Representative's office (USTR) from 2011 to 2014.