WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed Wilbur Ross as the commerce secretary, an appointment key to setting U.S. trade policies.

Ross's nomination was approved in a 72-27 vote, with strong support from Democrats.

The 79-year-old billionaire investor is set to play an important role in setting trade policies and negotiating trade deals for the Trump administration.

During his confirmation hearing, Ross told lawmakers that renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement was the top priority for the Trump administration. He downplayed the chances of an overall trade war with trading partners, saying that he was not antitrade and that tariffs played a role both as a negotiating tool and a tool "to punish offenders who don't play by the rules."

He also reiterated his intention that the United States would negotiate bilateral agreements instead of multilateral ones, because it's less likely to "get to a sensible result" from multilateral negotiations.

During the campaign, Ross and Peter Navarro, head of the newly-created National Trade Council at the White House, had worked together to help Trump develop the trade, regulatory and energy policy agenda, which focused on reducing U.S. trade deficit and boosting manufacturing.