WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday (Nov 26) selected commerce lawyer Jamieson Greer as his new US commerce consultant, elevating a key veteran of his first-term commerce conflict towards China to execute a sweeping tariff agenda that guarantees to upend international commerce.
“Jamieson will focus the Workplace of the US Commerce Consultant on reining within the Nation’s huge Commerce Deficit, defending American Manufacturing, Agriculture, and Providers, and opening up Export Markets in all places,” Trump mentioned in a press release.
Greer, 44, served as chief of workers to Trump’s former US commerce consultant, Robert Lighthizer, the architect of Trump’s unique tariffs on some US$370 billion value of Chinese language imports and the renegotiation of the North American free commerce take care of Canada and Mexico.
On this function, Greer participated with Lighthizer in all negotiations with Chinese language officers via the signing of a “Section 1” commerce take care of Beijing in January 2020. Below that settlement, China pledged to purchase some US$200 billion value of US items over two years, a aim by no means achieved, partly as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.
Greer, who beforehand labored with Lighthizer on the legislation agency Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, on metal commerce treatment circumstances, left USTR in Might 2020 to hitch the King & Spalding legislation agency in Washington. There, he has represented shoppers together with home producers in commerce treatment circumstances, export and import compliance and funding safety issues.
Lighthizer known as Greer an “wonderful alternative” for USTR.
“He is aware of the legislation and has nice judgment. He works across the clock and he agrees with and is loyal to the president,” Lighthizer mentioned in an emailed assertion. Greer “has spent many years getting ready for this chance to steer the commerce situation for the subsequent 4 years.”
Trump had beforehand named Wall Road CEO Howard Lutnick to steer his commerce technique as head of the Commerce Division, together with “direct duty” for USTR.
