The National Post reports in its Thursday, Aug. 2, edition that Peterson Institute for International Economics fellow Gary Hufbauer says United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer "sees the world as fundamentally out to get the U.S." The Post's Tom Blackwell writes that Mr. Hufbauer says, "He basically thinks that the U.S. is Uncle Sucker, and that prior trade agreements were not to the U.S.'s advantage, and that other countries were more clever and more sneaky in the way they do business." Mr. Lighthizer is closely aligned with the views of President Donald Trump -- and at odds with free-trade orthodoxy. Mr. Blackwell says Mr. Lighthizer makes for a difficult counterpart for Canadians at the North American free-trade agreement bargaining table. Friends and associates say Mr. Lighthizer is a shrewd bargainer. An unnamed source says Mr. Lighthizer dislikes Canadian foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland believing she went behind his back by lobbying members of Congress. Mr. Lighthizer's office took the rare step Tuesday of issuing a statement saying that he considers Ms. Freeland a "good friend." However, he still will not be meeting with her this week.