Lighthizer Replaces General Counsel Amid Intense Trade Talks (2)

President Donald Trump’s chief trade negotiator is losing an important legal adviser before the U.S. and China aim to close a landmark trade deal.

Stephen Vaughn, the general counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative who joined the Trump administration in 2017, will leave the position in the coming weeks, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said April 22 in a statement. He will be replaced by Joseph Barloon, a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, and Flom LLP, a law firm where Lighthizer was a partner before being nominated as USTR.

U.S. and Chinese officials are set to ...