President-Elect Donald Trump has tapped Jamieson Greer to be the official who will sit across negotiators from India and other countries in negotiations to pilot his hardline trade policies.
In his Tuesday night announcement naming him US International Trade Representative (USITR), Trump hailed him for his key role "in imposing tariffs on China and others to combat unfair trade practices".
In regard to his mandate, Trump said, "Jamieson will focus the Office of the US Trade Representative on reining in the Country's massive Trade Deficit, defending American Manufacturing, Agriculture and Services and opening up Export Markets everywhere", Trump wrote.
The president also revealed that he would nominate Kevin Hassett to be the head of the National Economic Council.
An alumnus of an academic background, Hassett served as the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the first Trump administration.
A hawker on China, Greer has also attacked the country's trade policies and urged a stronger response to the trade policies of this rising global economic power.
Trade Representative serves as a member of the President's cabinet, appointed with Senate confirmation.
A protege of USITR during Trump's first term, Greer is an alumnus who has worked as chief of staff under his mentor.
Greer, who spent a year studying in Paris, worked as an Air Force lawyer deployed to Iraq before specializing in trade law as a civilian.
In Lighthizer's office, he participated in the investigations into Beijing's technology transfers and negotiations with Chinese officials.
He also worked during that stint to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, and with a new pact advantaging Washington, the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), "making it much better for American workers", Trump said.
One of his first tasks, when he takes over, will be enforcing Trump's threats this week to impose a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada to stop illegal migration and drug smuggling, and hike duties on Chinese imports by 10 per cent to end sending out drugs and drug-making chemicals.
An avowed critic of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), he has recommended disobeying the global body while dealing with China.
Addressing Congress in his testimony, he told that US needs to regain its factory floor "to defend national security interests at home and abroad".
Trump's threat to raise tariffs on imports goes beyond the three countries to a declaration that he would impose reciprocal tariffs to match duties imposed by others and this could affect India.
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