Trump's US trade negotiator pick vows hard-line policies

WASHINGTON — 

Jamieson Greer, President Donald Trump's prime to beryllium the apical U.S. commercialized negotiator, promised to prosecute the president's hard-line commercialized policies successful grounds Thursday earlier the Senate Finance Committee. But helium faced pushback from senators unsettled by Trump's unpredictable actions connected trade.

Trump's protectionist attack — involving the dense usage of taxes connected overseas goods — volition springiness Americans "the accidental to enactment successful good-paying jobs producing goods and services they tin merchantability successful this marketplace and overseas to gain an honorable living," Greer said successful remarks prepared up of his confirmation hearing.

As U.S. commercialized representative, Greer would person work on with commerce caput nominee Howard Lutnick for 1 of Trump's apical argumentation priorities: waging — oregon astatine slightest threatening — commercialized warfare with countries astir the world, America's friends and foes alike.

On Saturday, Trump signed orders imposing tariffs connected Canada and Mexico — America's 2 biggest trading partners. Then connected Monday, helium turned astir and gave those countries a 30-day reprieve from the tariffs aft their leaders made humble concessions connected stopping the travel of undocumented immigrants and amerciable drugs into the United States.

"Trump governs by whim, and successful commercialized that hurts American families," said Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, the apical Democrat connected the concern committee. "His tariff bluff created immense uncertainty that is costing American businesses and putting the planetary system connected a month-to-month lease."

Trump believes that imposing tariffs — import taxes — connected U.S. commercialized partners tin trim America's monolithic commercialized deficits, support U.S. manufacture from competition, bring manufacturing backmost to the United States and unit different countries into making concessions connected a assortment of issues, including reducing amerciable migration and cracking down connected cause trafficking.

The hostilities person already begun. On Tuesday, the United States imposed a 10% tariff connected Chinese imports connected apical of levies imposed successful Trump’s archetypal term. Beijing promptly lashed back, announcing tariffs connected U.S. coal, crude lipid and different products, restricting exports of captious minerals and launching an antitrust probe of Google.

But the Chinese tariffs don't instrumentality effect until Monday, buying clip for the 2 countries to scope immoderate benignant of truce. That is what happened earlier this week. Trump had signed an bid Saturday hitting imports from America's 2 biggest commercialized partners, Canada and Mexico, with 25% tariffs. They were expected to instrumentality effect Tuesday, too, but were called disconnected — and delayed for 30 days — aft Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed Monday to bash much to halt the travel of undocumented immigrants and fentanyl crossed U.S. borders.

Economists person warned that Trump's tariffs would disrupt commercialized and thrust up prices for American consumers. Democrats and others person besides criticized the impulsive and unpredictable mode that Trump conducts commercialized argumentation and his determination to people America's neighbors and allies, not limiting his tariff onslaught to U.S. geopolitical rival China.

Wyden expressed interest astir Trump's run promises to enforce an across-the-board "universal" tariff connected imports arsenic opposed to targeting China and different countries for unfair commercialized practices oregon protecting workers successful circumstantial industries struggling with overseas competition.

The cosmopolitan tariffs, Wyden said, magnitude to a "prescription for hitting our citizens, tiny businesses, truly hard and besides raising inflationary pressures."

Greer responded that cosmopolitan tariffs "should beryllium studied" arsenic a mode to perchance little America's monolithic commercialized deficits. Greer was a seasoned of Trump's first-term commercialized battles, serving arsenic main of unit to then-U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. In that position, Greer was progressive successful a U.S.-China commercialized brawl that saw the world's 2 biggest economies slap tariffs connected hundreds of billions of dollars’ worthy of each other's goods.

He besides played a relation successful Trump's contentious and palmy run to rewrite a North American commercialized statement with Mexico and Canada and to get Congress to o.k. the caller pact.

Earlier, Greer, a postgraduate of the University of Virginia instrumentality school, served arsenic a lawyer successful the U.S. Air Force's Advocate General's Corps, doing a circuit successful Iraq and serving arsenic a authoritative and defence counsel successful transgression cases involving U.S. airmen.

After Trump's archetypal term, Greer joined the Washington instrumentality steadfast King & Spalding, representing clients successful cases earlier the Commerce Department, the International Trade Commission and national courts.