WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday (Nov 26) chose trade lawyer Jamieson Greer as his new US trade representative, elevating a key veteran of his first-term trade war against China to execute a sweeping tariff agenda that promises to upend global trade.
“Jamieson will focus the Office of the US Trade Representative on reining in the Country’s massive Trade Deficit, defending American Manufacturing, Agriculture, and Services, and opening up Export Markets everywhere,” Trump said in a statement.
Greer, 44, served as chief of staff to Trump’s former US trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, the architect of Trump’s original tariffs on some US$370 billion worth of Chinese imports and the renegotiation of the North American free trade deal with Canada and Mexico.
In this role, Greer participated with Lighthizer in all negotiations with Chinese officials through the signing of a “Phase 1” trade deal with Beijing in January 2020. Under that agreement, China pledged to buy some US$200 billion worth of US goods over two years, a goal never achieved, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Greer, who previously worked with Lighthizer at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, on steel trade remedy cases, left USTR in May 2020 to join the King & Spalding law firm in Washington. There, he has represented clients including domestic manufacturers in trade remedy cases, export and import compliance and investment security matters.
Lighthizer called Greer an “excellent choice” for USTR.
“He knows the law and has great judgment. He works around the clock and he agrees with and is loyal to the president,” Lighthizer said in an emailed statement. Greer “has spent decades preparing for this opportunity to lead the trade issue for the next four years.”
Trump had previously named Wall Street CEO Howard Lutnick to lead his trade strategy as head of the Commerce Department, including “direct responsibility” for USTR.
