Senate confirms top Trump trade negotiator

The Senate voted to confirm a trade attorney and first-term Trump official for the position of America’s top trade negotiator as the Trump administration looks set to reconsider long-standing relationships with many traditional U.S. trading partners.

The Senate voted on Wednesday by a margin of 56 to 43 to confirm Jamieson Greer as the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). The vote was largely along party lines, with Republicans generally voting for Greer and Democrats voting against him. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.) was among the Democrats who voted in favor of Greer.

Greer, a former lawyer for the Air Force who worked as chief of staff to Trump’s first Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, will work alongside Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to manage Trump’s trade policy, which has already flustered allies and led to massive pile ups of shipments at U.S. ports of entry.

Republicans have spoken highly of Greer, including Senate Finance Committee member Chuck Grassley (Iowa), a self-described free-trader who expressed interest in gaining new market access, a traditional interest of the free trade agenda.

“I am confident that Mr. Greer will pursue an aggressive trade strategy that includes opening access to new markets through new trade deals. I also believe that Mr. Greer will work to level the playing field for U.S. farmers to compete with Brazil fairly, and deal with China head-on,” he said in a Tuesday statement.

Meanwhile, Democrats blasted the confirmation, calling Greer a rubber stamp for Trump.

“Mr. Greer will be a rubber stamp for the Trump Tax, the knee-jerk decision to slap tariffs on nearly everything Americans buy and make high prices even higher,” Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a Wednesday statement.

“Greer has embraced Trump’s chaos strategy, which is a slap in the face to farmers, manufacturers and communities across the country.”

Trump’s trade agenda has begun in fits and starts, with the president pledging large-scale across-the-board tariffs on certain countries and then pulling them at the last minute.

Trump said he would impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico on his first day in office, then pushed the deadline back to February, then again to March after various calls and discussions with leaders of the two countries. Trump said Monday that tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico are still “on time and on schedule” as the countries increase border security ahead of a March 4 deadline.

A 10-percent tariff on China was imposed on February 1. China blasted the tariff and retaliated by imposing a 15-percent additional tariff on U.S. coal, lignite, liquified natural gas, coke and anthracite. China also imposed a 10-percent tariff on U.S. tractors and farm machinery, semi-trailers and crude oil.

Trump’s temporary cancellation of a tariff exemption known as the “de minimis” rule that allows shipment worth less than $800 to enter the U.S. without being taxed or inspected led to a backlog of a million packages at JFK airport. Trump canceled the rule change a few days later after meeting with a FedEx direct.

Experts estimate that an additional 22,000 customers officers would be needed to inspect packages at the border if the de minimis rule is canceled on a permanent basis.

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