Trump taps Jamieson Greer for USTR to push ambitious tariff policies

[Simone Del Rosario]

President-elect Donald Trump just made a cabinet pick who will play a crucial role in one of his key campaign messages.

[Donald Trump]

It will be a certain tariff percentage, which will be higher than people had heard in the past, and we will be bringing in billions and billions of dollars, which will directly reduce our deficits.

[Simone Del Rosario]

Trump picked Jamieson Greer to be the U.S. Trade Representative. Greer served as an Air Force lawyer and eventually transitioned into trade law.

Greer is the protégé of Trump’s first USTR Robert Lighthizer. They worked together prior to Trump’s first term. When Lighthizer took on the role, he brought on Greer as his chief of staff.

But Greer spent most of the time behind the scenes, while Lighthizer was front and center during Trump’s first administration. He’s noticeably absent as the president-elect fills his cabinet this time around. He’s been passed over for Commerce and Treasury, and now his chief of staff is taking his former post. Is the architect of Trump’s first-term tariff policy being left in the lurch?

In a statement posted to Truth Social, Trump said Greer played a key role during his first term “imposing tariffs on China and others to combat unfair trade practices, and replacing the failed NAFTA deal with USMCA.”

Trump said Greer would focus “on reining in the Country’s massive Trade Deficit, defending American Manufacturing, Agriculture, and Services, and opening up Export Markets everywhere.”

If confirmed, Greer will have to hit the ground running.

On Monday, Trump announced that on his first day as president, he’ll sign an executive order charging Mexico and Canada a 25% tariff on all products coming into the United States. He says the tariff “will remain in effect until such time as drugs, in particular fentanyl, and all illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country.”

Beyond implementing the policy, existing trade deals that Trump negotiated could cause a bit of a headache for Greer.

Mary Lovely:

It is a violation of the usmca, the US just basically said, oops, you know, we are going to impose these tariffs no matter what our treaty says.

Simone Del Rosario:

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement is not set to expire until 2036. It is up for a six-year review in 2026 and Greer would play a key role in reviewing the pact.

Trump also announced an additional 10% tariff on China related to the fentanyl crisis, with more action on China expected.

None of this will be new territory for Greer. Politico reports he was instrumental in negotiating Phase One of the China trade deal and the USMCA.

Tariffs are arguably the most prominent economic policy touted by Trump as he ran for a second term. He’s floating tariffs as high as 60% or more on China. Expect Greer to strongly enforce Trump’s trade vision.

Jamieson Greer:

I’m gravely concerned not only with Chinese efforts to dominate global markets and some of the most important technologies and advanced manufactured goods, but also with the Chinese government’s use of trade investment to support its state owned enterprises, its military, and then to drive an economy that appears to be gearing up for conflict with the United States and others.

There should continue to be attention paid to this, and consideration of increased tariff usage should should be on the table. We should continue to consider export controls and how that should look when we talk about having a high yard and small fence, maybe the fence shouldn’t be so small

Simone Del Rosario:

Trade rep isn’t the only economic pick the president-elect made on Tuesday. He also announced Kevin Hassett would serve as the director of the White House National Economic Council. Hassett was a senior economic advisor during the first Trump administration. Before Trump, Hassett advised every Republican nominee for president since 2004.

In a statement on Truth Social, Trump said Hassett “played a crucial role in helping to design and pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.”

He added that Hassett “will play an important role in helping American families recover from the Inflation that was unleashed by the Biden Administration. Together, we will renew and improve our record Tax Cuts, and ensure that we have Fair Trade with Countries that have taken advantage of the United States in the past.”

In his role, Hassett will work closely with Scott Bessent, whom Trump picked to lead the Treasury Department, to move forward the President’s economic agenda, which includes extending those 2017 Tax Cuts in its entirety.

For more on how Scott Bessent went from a prominent Democratic donor to Trump’s pick for Treasury, search Scott Bessent and watch this story at SAN.com or the Straight Arrow News app.