Jamieson Greer, nominated by President Donald Trump shortly after he won the election, will be the chief trade negotiator for the United States over the next four years.
The Senate voted 56–43 to confirm Greer to serve as the next U.S. Trade Representative, succeeding Katherine Tai, who held the position in the previous administration.
Greer received support from Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).
It was one of the final few Cabinet positions that had yet to be confirmed.
The Senate, on Feb. 24, invoked cloture on Greer’s nomination by a vote of 55–42.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) expressed support for Greer ahead of his confirmation, optimistic that the current administration will meet “the needs of farmers and ranchers.”
“I’m looking forward to working with Mr. Greer to expand opportunities for our agricultural producers,” Thune said in prepared remarks.
The Senate Finance Committee approved sending Greer’s nomination to the upper chamber floor in a 15–12 vote on Feb. 12.
Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) urged his colleagues on the other side of the aisle to support Greer as the next U.S. Trade Representative.
“Regarding Mr. Greer, he demonstrated at the hearing that he is more than qualified to be our nation’s chief trade negotiator,” Crapo said.
“Based on his answers, conduct at the hearing, and in meeting with him, I am confident that Mr. Greer has the experience and determination to advocate successfully for American farmers, ranchers, workers, and manufacturers.”
Sen. Ron Wyden (R-Ore.), the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, said he has “no confidence” in Greer.
In a statement prior to the vote, the senator stated that he does not believe Greer will be a positive voice in the Trump administration to advance the interests of working Americans.
“He is both unable and unwilling to be the administration’s leading voice on trade as the law requires,” Wyden said. “If confirmed, he will be a rubber stamp for more Trump trade chaos.”
A trade veteran from Trump’s first administration, Greer pledged to restructure international trade relations.
“The action that the president is talking about is about fentanyl,” Greer said. “We don’t want another single fentanyl death. A kilogram of fentanyl can kill 50,000 people, by some calculations. We can’t have that, and we need to come to an agreement on that.”
Trump recently confirmed that the United States will be moving ahead with 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico following the 30-day pause.
When asked about the president’s campaign promise of a universal tariff, Greer noted that it would require further study.
“A universal tariff is something that should be studied and considered to see if it can reverse the direction of that deficit and offshoring,” he told lawmakers.
The chief of staff to former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer acknowledged that the ballooning trade deficit is “a huge problem,” adding that the gap is widening with a growing number of countries that have erected tariff and non-tariff trade hurdles.
“Part of the question is how large of a trade deficit do we want, because the trade deficit represents, in large part, manufacturing jobs that have gone overseas,” Greer stated.
Trump recently instituted 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports without exemptions or exclusions. He also revealed intentions to implement reciprocal tariffs on all U.S. trading partners.
Greer, who was with Trump in the Oval Office when discussing reciprocal tariffs, told reporters that the United States can no longer have a $1 trillion trade deficit.
“We’ve had 60,000 factories lost during the period of globalization. All of these things have harmed our workers, our farmers, and that stops right now,” Greer said.
“So through everything, we'll certainly look at the tariffs. We’re going to look at taxes that are distributed,” he added. “We’re going to look at other countries to try to regulate our company, look at all these things, figure out exactly what we should be charging.”
