The US President-elect appointed Jameson Greer and Kevin Hassett as trade representative and top economic adviser respectively.
United States President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Jamieson Greer and Kevin Hassett, two veterans of his first administration, as his trade representative and top economic adviser respectively.
Greer played a key role in prosecuting Trump’s trade war with China as chief of staff to former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer during the former president’s first term.
“Jameson will focus the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on reining in the country’s massive trade deficit, protecting American manufacturing, agriculture and services, and opening up export markets everywhere,” Trump said in a statement Tuesday.
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Greer, who left the government to become a partner at the law firm King & Spalding, would be responsible for leading negotiations on trade with foreign governments and international bodies such as the World Trade Organization.
In an interview with The New York Times in June, Greer said Trump officials see tariffs as a way to “remediate” unfair trade practices by China and other countries.
“If you level that playing field, it makes it so that Americans don’t have to compete unfairly,” he said.
Trump said Hassett, known as a strong supporter of tax cuts, would “play a critical role in helping American families recover from the inflationary pressure unleashed by the Biden administration” as director of the White House National Economic Council.
Hassett, the former chairman of Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers, does not require Senate confirmation.
“Together, we will renew and improve our record tax cuts, and ensure we have fair trade with countries that have taken advantage of the United States in the past,” Trump said.
Trump’s latest pick for his incoming administration comes after the president-elect pledged to impose a 25 percent tariff on all goods from Mexico and Canada and an “additional” 10 percent tariff on Chinese products in response to irregular border crossings and drug trafficking. Came after a day.
Economists widely agree that broad-based tariffs would raise the cost of everyday goods in the US and slow global growth.
Trump’s supporters and allies say the tariffs will bring manufacturing jobs back from overseas and give Washington more leverage to negotiate more favorable trade deals with other countries.
