President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly expected to pick Jamieson Greer for U.S. trade representative as the nation weighs whether to follow through on threats to levy massive tariffs on Mexico, China and Canada.
Greer is a former Air Force lawyer and a protegé of Trump’s first trade representative Robert Lighthizer, according to the publication. Greer testified last year that it's "critically important to restore the U.S. manufacturing base," which he said will ensure the United States can "credibly deter escalation" by China.
He also criticized the Biden administration’s approach to China as "hot rhetoric [taking] the place of meaningful action."
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Lighthizer and Greer worked at the same law firm prior to Trump's 2016 win, according to the report. Lighthizer brought on Greer as his chief of staff in the Trump administration, and later wrote that Greer did an “excellent” job.
"He was organized, patient, and always at the office," Lighthizer wrote in his book, "No Trade is Free."
For his part, Lighthizer’s messages haven't always struck the right chord.
“Lighthizer has also been hitting the road as an unofficial Trump surrogate — sometimes with chilling effects for wary U.S. allies,” POLITICO reported earlier this month. “A few months ago, Lighthizer unexpectedly attended a meeting of the Bilderberg group — an annual meeting of the transatlantic political and financial elite — delivering comments that were ‘terrifying to everybody who was there,’ one attendee told the publication.
