Jamieson Greer

{{Short description|American trade official (born 1979 or 1980)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Jamieson Greer

| image = U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.jpg

| caption = Greer in 2025

| order = 20th

| office = United States Trade Representative

| president = Donald Trump

| term_start = February 27, 2025{{fact|date=March 2025}}

| predecessor = Katherine Tai

| successor =

| office1 = Chief of Staff to the
United States Trade Representative

| term_start1 = June 15, 2017

| term_end1 = April 2020

| predecessor1 = Edward Gresser

| successor1 = Nora Todd

| 1namedata1 = Robert Lighthizer

| 1blankname1 = Trade Representative

| birth_name = Jamieson Lee Greer

| birth_date = {{nobr|{{birth based on age as of date|44|2024|11|26}}}}

| birth_place = Albany, New York, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| party = Republican

| education = {{ubil|Brigham Young University (BA) |Sciences Po (LLM) |Panthéon-Sorbonne University (LLM) |University of Virginia (JD)}}

| allegiance = {{flag|United States}}

| branch = {{flagcountry|United States Air Force}}

| branch_label = Branch

| serviceyears = 2008–2012

| serviceyears_label = Service years

| rank = Captain

| unit = USAF JAG Corps

| battles = Iraq War

| battles_label = Conflict

}}

Jamieson Lee Greer (born 1979 or 1980){{cite web | url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/26/jamieson-greer-trade-representative-trump-00191181 | title=Trump picks Lighthizer acolyte to be his trade chief | website=Politico | date=26 November 2024 }} is an American attorney and former Air Force officer who is serving as the 20th United States trade representative in the second Trump administration since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the first Trump administration as chief of staff to the United States trade representative from 2017 to 2020 and was a partner in international trade at King & Spalding.

Early life and education

Greer graduated from Paradise High School in Paradise, California, in 1998 and then spent two years as a Mormon missionary in Brussels.{{Cite web |url=https://www.deseret.com/politics/2024/11/27/trump-nominates-latter-day-saint-lawyer-as-his-trade-chief/ |title=Trump nominates Latter-day Saint lawyer as his trade chief |date=November 27, 2024 |last=Benson |first=Samuel |work=Deseret News |access-date=November 27, 2024}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.chicoer.com/2017/08/19/paradise-man-has-key-role-in-us-trade-under-trump-administration/ |title=Paradise man has key role in US trade under Trump administration |date=April 20, 2018 |newspaper=Chico Enterprise-Record |access-date=November 26, 2024}} Greer attended Brigham Young University where he majored in international relations. He pursued master's degrees from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University and Sciences Pohttps://www.kslaw.com/people/jamieson-greer and later attended the University of Virginia School of Law.{{Cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-26/trump-team-prepares-to-announce-greer-as-us-trade-representative |title=Trump Team Prepares to Announce Greer as US Trade Representative |date=November 26, 2024 |last1=Walch |first1=Tad |last2=Mohsin |first2=Saleha |last3=Hordern |first3=Annmarie |last4=Leonard |first4=Jenny |publisher=Bloomberg News |access-date=November 26, 2024}} Between September and December 2007, Greer worked as a law clerk for the European Court of Justice.{{citation needed |date=November 2024}}

Military service

From 2008 to 2012,{{citation needed |date=November 2024}} Greer served as an officer in the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps. He served in Kansas and Turkey, and was deployed to Iraq where he served as chief of military justice. He was honorably discharged from service in 2012.{{citation needed |date=November 2024}}

Career

Greer later worked in private law firms specializing in trade law, including Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. He represented U.S. Steel in a lawsuit against China. He is a partner in international trade at King & Spalding.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/business/economy/jamieson-greer-trade-representative.html |title=Trump Selects Jamieson Greer as Trade Representative |date=November 26, 2024 |last=Swanson |first=Ana |work=The New York Times |access-date=November 26, 2024}}

= First Trump presidency =

Greer served as the chief of staff to trade representative Robert Lighthizer between 2017 and 2020. Greer was involved in trade negotiations with China, and the talks about the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.{{Cite news |last=Swanson |first=Ana |date=2024-11-27 |title=Trump Selects First-Term Official as Trade Representative |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/business/economy/jamieson-greer-trade-representative.html |access-date=2025-01-07 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

= Second Trump presidency =

File:U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer with Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal.jpg Piyush Goyal, 2025]]

On November 26, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Greer to serve as United States trade representative in the second Trump administration. Greer is the first Mormon Cabinet-level official since Mike Leavitt served as Secretary of Health and Human Services in 2009.{{Cite web |url=https://www.deseret.com/utah/2020/10/30/21527738/robert-obrien-resign-trump-national-security-adviser-mormon-latter-day-saint-utah-capitol-dc-protest/ |title=Meet the highest ranking Latter-day Saint in the Trump administration |date=October 30, 2020 |last=Romboy |first=Dennis |work=Deseret News |access-date=November 30, 2024}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.deseret.com/2017/1/19/20604458/complicated-but-not-hostile-lds-obama-relationship-draws-to-a-close/ |title=Complicated but not hostile, LDS-Obama relationship draws to a close |date=January 19, 2017 |last1=Cook |first1=Nancy |last2=Taylor |first2=Scott |work=Deseret News |access-date=November 30, 2024}} The Senate Committee on Finance voted 15–12 to approve his nomination on February 12.{{cite web |last1=Lawder |first1=David |last2=Shalal |first2=Andrea |date=2025-02-06 |title=Trump's trade chief nominee Greer says universal tariff needs more study |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-ustr-pick-jamieson-greer-calls-pragmatic-trade-policy-2025-02-06/ |access-date=2025-02-07 |work=Reuters}}{{cite web | url = https://rollcall.com/2025/02/12/senate-finance-advances-greer-to-be-us-trade-representative/ | title = Senate Finance advances Greer to be US trade representative | work = Roll Call | date = 2025-02-12 | access-date = 2025-02-12 | first = Olivia M. | last = Bridges }} On February 26, the United States Senate confirmed his nomination by a 56–43 vote.{{Cite web |date=February 26, 2025 |title=On the Nomination (Confirmation: Jamieson Greer, of Maryland, to be U.S. Trade Representative ) |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00094.htm |access-date=February 26, 2025 |website=www.senate.gov}}

In 2025, Greer was a supporter of the Trump administration's across-the-board tariffs, and said the pain of the tariffs was necessary to reduce trade deficits and bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States.{{Cite news |date=2025 |title=Trump trade rep sees no change on tariff tactics, says some business pain is necessary |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-trade-rep-faces-bipartisan-questions-scope-duration-tariffs-2025-04-08/ |work=Reuters}}{{Cite web |last=Mena |first=Bryan |date=2025-04-09 |title=Trump's top trade official says president's tariffs are necessary to fix trade deficit 'emergency' {{!}} CNN Business |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/09/business/trump-top-trade-official-testifies-house-tariffs/index.html |website=CNN |language=en}} When Trump paused the tariffs for 90 days in April 2025, amid substantial economic turmoil, Greer was not informed of the decision until after Trump announced the pause.

Views

Greer has described trade deficits as "a huge problem".{{Cite news |date=2025 |title=Trump's trade chief nominee Greer says universal tariff needs more study |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-ustr-pick-jamieson-greer-calls-pragmatic-trade-policy-2025-02-06/ |work=Reuters}}

Greer supports tougher economic policies towards China, including the aggressive enforcement of the trade deal that resulted from the China–United States trade war and using export controls and sanctions against China.{{Cite web |date=2024-11-26 |title=Trump picks Lighthizer acolyte to be his trade chief |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/26/jamieson-greer-trade-representative-trump-00191181 |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=Politico |language=en}} He supports trade deals with countries such as the United Kingdom, Kenya, the Philippines and India to counter China, as well as restoring the U.S. manufacturing base.{{Cite news |last=Lawford |first=Melissa |date=2024-11-28 |title=Trump's chief trade negotiator backed closer ties with UK in boost for deal hopes |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/11/28/jamieson-greer-chief-trade-negotiator-closer-ties-uk/ |access-date=2025-01-07 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}