U.S. President Donald Trump's trade negotiator nominee, Jamieson Greer, told his confirmation hearing on Thursday that universal tariffs should be "studied and considered" as a potential tool to curb offshoring and reduce trade deficits.
On the campaign trail, Trump had floated the idea of across-the-board tariffs on all imports and Greer would be a crucial figure in implementing the president's trade and tariffs agenda if confirmed as U.S. trade representative.
Trump has also imposed an additional tariff on Chinese imports taking effect this week, while threatening broad tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
Addressing the Senate Finance Committee, Greer said U.S. workers ought to have a "level playing field" to compete globally, and stressed the need for the world's biggest economy to have a "robust manufacturing base."
Greer, a partner at law firm King & Spalding, served as chief of staff to Trump's former trade representative Robert Lighthizer during his first presidential term.
During that time, Greer helped to see through a trade deal between the United States, Mexico and Canada – although Trump has since announced and paused fresh tariffs on both neighbors as talks continue.
Greer told lawmakers Thursday that the United States should be a "country of producers" as he faced questions from lawmakers on trade.
He also noted that the United States needs to "gain market access where things have been closed," calling for the use of "all the tools at our disposal" in order to do so.
He added there is a "relatively short window of time" to restructure the international trade system to better serve U.S. interests.
Beyond the issue of reciprocity with Beijing, Washington has to have a "balanced relationship" overall with China, Greer said.
He added that if confirmed, he would swiftly assess and enforce China's compliance with a Phase One trade deal Washington and Beijing inked in 2020, marking a truce in the trade war between both sides.
Greer additionally said he was committed to looking at other unfair trade practices if confirmed as USTR.
During Trump's first term from 2017 to 2021, the United States introduced tariffs on billions of dollars worth of imports – notably on China but also America's allies.
In particular, the first Trump administration imposed levies on some $300 billion in Chinese goods as Washington and Beijing engaged in an escalating tariff war.
Lighthizer emerged as a strongman in trade talks as he sought to force changes in Beijing's economic policies.
Greer is also set to work on reining in the country's trade deficit, protecting American industries and widening export markets, Trump had previously said when announcing his nomination to the post.
