New York, Nov 28 (IANS) President-Elect Donald Trump has named Jamieson Greer to be the official who will sit across negotiators from India and other countries in negotiations to pilot his hardline trade policies.
In his Tuesday night announcement naming him US International Trade Representative (USITR), Trump hailed him for his key role “in imposing tariffs on China and others to combat unfair trade practices”.
About his mandate, Trump wrote, “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 wrote.
Trump also said he would name Kevin Hassett as the director of the National Economic Council.
Hassett, who has an academic background, worked in the first Trump administration as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Greer is a hawk on China, denouncing its trade practices and demanding stricter measures against it.
The Trade Representative is a member of the cabinet and has to be confirmed by the Senate.
Greer is a protege of Trump’s first term USITR, Robert Lighthizer, having worked as his chief of staff.
Greer, who has studied in Paris, did a stint as an Air Force lawyer deployed in Iraq before specialising in trade law as a civilian.
In Lighthizer’s office, he was involved in investigations into Beijing’s technology transfers and negotiations with Chinese officials.
During that stint, he also worked on scrapping the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico and with a new pact advantaging Washington with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), “making it much better for American workers”, Trump said.
One of his first tasks, when he takes over, will be to enforce Trump’s threats this week to impose a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada to stop illegal migration and drug smuggling, and hike duties on Chinese imports by 10 per cent to end sending out drugs and drug-making chemicals.
A critic of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), he has suggested defying it in dealing with China.
In testimony before Congress, he said the US should restore its manufacturing base to “defend its national security interests at home and abroad.”
Trump’s threat to raise tariffs on imports goes beyond the three countries to a declaration that he would impose reciprocal tariffs to match duties imposed by others and this could affect India.
–IANS
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