President-elect Donald Trump announced a slew of nominations on Tuesday, including international trade attorney Jamieson Greer as his U.S. trade representative, Kevin Hassett as director of the White House National Economic Council and Vince Haley as director of the Domestic Policy Council.
In announcing Greer’s appointment, Trump said in a statement that Greer played an important role in his first term imposing tariffs on China and others and replacing the trade deal with Canada and Mexico, “making things much better for American workers.”
Greer previously served as chief of staff to Robert Lighthizer, Trump’s former trade representative, who is highly skeptical of free trade. Greet is currently a partner at the law firm King & Spalding in Washington. He could not immediately be reached for comment.
If appointed trade representative, Greer would be responsible for direct negotiations with foreign governments on trade agreements and disputes, as well as memberships in international trade organizations such as the World Trade Organization.
The selection comes after Trump announced plans on Monday to impose sweeping tariffs of 25% on all imports from Mexico and Canada and another 10% on all imports from China once he is inaugurated in January.
Trump said the tariffs would remain in place “until drugs, especially Fentanyl, and all illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country!”
Meanwhile, economist Kevin Hassett was named director of the White House National Economic Council, bringing a key advocate for tax cuts into the Trump administration.
Trump said in Tuesday’s announcement that Hassett “will play an important role in helping American families recover from the inflation caused by the Biden administration” and that together they would “renew and improve” on the 2017 tax cuts. many of which are on the verge of recovery. expire after 2025.
Hassett, 62, served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers during the first Trump term. He has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and worked at the right-wing American Enterprise Institute before joining the Trump White House in 2017.
