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(Washington = Yonhap News) Correspondent Jo Joon-hyung = On the 26th (local time), U.S. President-elect Donald Trump nominated Jamieson Greer (44), who was involved in imposing high tariffs on China during his first term, as the representative of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) for his second administration.
A lawyer well-versed in international trade law, Greer served as Chief of Staff to Robert Lighthizer, the then USTR representative during Trump’s first administration, and is currently a partner attorney at the law firm ‘King & Spalding.’
Trump announced Greer’s nomination in a statement, describing him as having imposed tariffs on China and other countries to fight unfair trade practices during his first presidential term and having replaced the failed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), making it much more favorable for American workers.
Trump added that Greer’s efforts under former USTR representative Lighthizer helped revitalize American manufacturing jobs and reversed decades of disastrous trade policies.
Furthermore, Trump stated that Greer would focus the USTR on controlling America’s large trade deficit by protecting American manufacturing, agriculture, and services, and opening export markets worldwide.
The USTR is similar in nature to Korea’s Trade Negotiation Headquarters but is an agency directly under the president. It oversees international trade negotiations, the establishment and execution of trade policy, and the investigation and response to unfair trade practices.
Greer has long been associated with Lighthizer, a proponent of a return to protectionist trade policies using tariffs as a weapon. Trump’s nomination of Greer, considered Lighthizer’s successor in crafting tariff-focused policies, reaffirms the central role tariffs will play in Trump’s second-term economic agenda.
With Greer’s official nomination, the last piece of Trump’s second-term economic team centered on tariffs has been assembled.
Previously, Trump nominated Howard Lutnick (63), former CEO of Wall Street investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald, as Secretary of Commerce and Scott Besant (62), founder of hedge fund Key Square Group, as Secretary of Treasury.
Trump announced yesterday that on his inauguration day, January 20th next year, he would sign an executive order imposing an additional 10% tariff on China on top of existing tariffs and a 25% tariff each on Mexico and Canada.
The tariffs will apply to all products imported into the U.S. from these countries and will remain in effect until the issues of illegal immigration and drug inflow through the U.S. border are resolved.
jhcho@yna.co.kr