<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><a href="https://rollcall.com/2025/02/12/senate-finance-advances-greer-to-be-us-trade-representative/" class="">https://rollcall.com/2025/02/12/senate-finance-advances-greer-to-be-us-trade-representative/</a> </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><h2 class="title single"><a href="https://rollcall.com/2025/02/12/senate-finance-advances-greer-to-be-us-trade-representative/" class="">Senate Finance advances Greer to be US trade representative
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USTR will begin review of the trade deal with Mexico and Canada</h3></div><div class=""><p class="">The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday voted 15-12 to favorably
report the nomination of Jamieson Greer to be the U.S. trade
representative despite Democratic concerns about his support for
President Donald Trump’s trade agenda.</p><p class="">Greer was the chief of staff for former U.S. Trade Representative
Robert Lighthizer and is now a partner at King and Spalding law firm.
During his time at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative,
Greer helped negotiate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade as well
as the U.S.-Japan agreement. </p><p class="">“I’m confident that Mr. Greer has the experience and determination to
advocate successfully for American farmers, ranchers, workers and
manufacturers. Importantly, he was very clear that he is committed to
reporting to and consulting with Congress,” Chairman Michael D. Crapo,
R-Idaho, said.</p></div><div class=""><p class="">The committee held Greer’s confirmation hearing Feb. 6, when he was
questioned about his support for Trump’s tariff plans and various trade
agreements. His answers did not appear to sway most Democrats’ concerns
about his role.</p><p class="">“Since this committee last met to consider this nomination, the Trump
trade agenda has continued to be a swampy mess,” said ranking member
Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who voted against the nominee. “As far as I can tell,
Mr. Greer appears in lockstep with President Trump, including
supporting the use of tariffs for revenue, which is a tax that hits
working Americans the hardest.”</p><p class="">Greer signaled during the hearing that he would suggest changes to
the USMCA ahead of its scheduled 2026 review. Trump issued a memo on
Jan. 20 ordering USTR to begin taking public comments on the agreement.</p><p class="">Greer said the U.S. should “look closely at things like the rules of
origin to make sure that third countries or foreign countries of concern
are not inadvertently or deliberately benefiting or free riding on the
agreement at the expense of America and our trading partners.”</p><p class="">His comments came after Trump signed executive orders imposing 25
percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada, only to pause those tariffs two
days later for a month. Mexico is the top U.S. top trading partner, with
Canada second and China third, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.</p></div><div class=""><p class="">Trump imposed 10 percent tariffs on China that went into effect last
week. The president signed executive orders Monday putting 25 percent
tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports.</p><p class="">“He seems to have no quarrel with Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on
Canada, Mexico and China, with no strategy or plan to leverage them into
trade wins for American stakeholders,” Wyden said Tuesday.</p><p class="">“I simply do not have confidence that Mr. Greer will be in the room
for important trade and tariff decisions, unlike previous
representatives of this office. He said Donald Trump’s use of tariffs to
settle scores on issues unrelated to trade are not a trade issue, and
therefore not something he would expect to be involved with if
confirmed,” Wyden said.</p><p class="">Greer weighed in on U.S. trade relations with China at the hearing
and said that “granting China permanent normal trade relations is one
major cause of why we’re in the situation we’re in now with unbalanced
trade.”</p><p class="">Ending China’s permanent normal trade status, also known as most
favored nation status, is a Republican goal. Congress granted the status
to China in 2000 as the country prepared to join the World Trade
Organization. The move granted China preferential tariff treatment.</p></div><p class="">Trump’s Jan. 20 memo also directed the Commerce secretary to assess
legislative proposals related to China’s status and make
recommendations. </p><p class="">Howard Lutnick is Trump’s nominee for secretary, and Greer is
expected to work under Lutnick’s direction. Trump said the Commerce
Department would have “additional direct responsibility for the Office
of the United States Trade Representative.”</p><p class="">Greer also signaled that he wants to hold China compliant with the
so-called phase one agreement between the U.S. and China after the two
countries slapped mutual tariffs on one another’s goods during Trump’s
first term. The Jan. 20 memo directed USTR to review the agreement and
make recommendations.</p><p class="">China committed in that deal to purchase an additional $200 billion
in U.S. goods over 2020 and 2021. The Peterson Institute for
International Economics reported in 2022 that commitment fell short,
with China buying only 58 percent of the goods agreed upon, not enough
to reach its import levels before the trade war started. </p><p class="">“We don’t just want to pound our fist and have rhetoric. We want to
be able to very clearly see where they did or did not comply,” Greer
said. “And then from there, you move to dispute settlement and you move
to enforcement, if you need to. ”</p><p class="">Greer also touched on his plans for the agricultural sector. He
proposed expanding agricultural markets, saying that the average tariff
ceiling on agricultural products is 39 percent in India and nearly 40
percent in Turkey.</p><p class="">“These are markets where they need to open to the United States, and I
think we need to use all the tools at our disposal to do so,” Greer
said.</p><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">
Arthur Stamoulis<br class="">Citizens Trade Campaign<br class="">(202) 494-8826<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">
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