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Jamieson Greer – USTR

Jamieson Greer - USTR

Summary

Jamieson Lee Greer (born 1979/1980) is an American attorney and veteran who is the presumptive nominee for United States trade representative in the second Trump administration.

A Republican, he previously served in the first Trump administration as chief of staff to the United States trade representative from 2017 to 2020 and is currently a partner in international trade at King & Spalding.

OnAir Post: Jamieson Greer – USTR

News

Latest

Trump picks Lighthizer acolyte to be his trade chief
Politico, Doug Palmer et al – November 26, 2024

Jamieson Greer served as chief of staff at USTR in Trump’s first term.

President-elect Donald Trump picked Jamieson Greer to be U.S. trade representative, elevating a figure little known outside of Washington to what is expected to be one of the most important posts in the incoming administration.

Greer, a former Air Force lawyer turned trade litigator, is a protegé of Robert Lighthizer, who was Trump’s trade representative in his first administration and is expected to influence trade policy in Trump’s second term.

“Jamieson will focus the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on reining in the Country’s massive Trade Deficit, defending American Manufacturing, Agriculture and Services and opening up Export Markets everywhere,” Trump said in a statement posted on Truth Social.

 

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About

Source: King & Spalding page

Jamieson Greer - USTR 1Jamieson Greer is a partner in the International Trade team at King & Spalding. His practice covers trade remedies, trade policy and negotiations, trade agreement enforcement, export and import compliance, and CFIUS matters. He has represented clients in trade remedy litigation before the Department of Commerce, the International Trade Commission and federal courts. He has also assisted clients with advocacy before senior government officials and agencies with jurisdiction over international trade matters.  His clients include manufacturing, technology, energy, pharmaceutical, agriculture, financial and investment services, hospitality, and aerospace and defense companies.

Jamieson has experience developing international trade compliance programs and training client employees, conducting trade-related internal investigations, and advising on international trade aspects of mergers and acquisitions.

Prior to joining King & Spalding, Jamieson was the Chief of Staff to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), Ambassador Robert Lighthizer. He worked very closely with Ambassador Lighthizer and senior White House officials on developing and implementing trade policy and advised the USTR on all aspects of the agency’s mission. Jamieson was also deeply involved in the Administration’s negotiations on the Phase One trade deal with China and participated in numerous strategy sessions with Ambassador Lighthizer, the President and other cabinet members as part of that process. He was a critical part of USTR’s efforts to negotiate and obtain Congressional approval of the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Jamieson participated in every major Administration trade action initiated during his three years at USTR.

Before working at USTR, Jamieson spent several years in private practice focusing on trade-related matters, from compliance with U.S. export controls to transactions subject to CFIUS’s approval, trade remedies and antidumping laws.

Jamieson also served in the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps, including a deployment to Iraq. He served as both prosecutor and defense counsel in criminal investigations and courts-martial involving U.S. airmen.

Jamieson appears regularly in print and news media, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and the BBC.

More Information

Wikipedia

Jamieson Lee Greer (born 1979 or 1980)[1] 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 February 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.

Greer is the first Mormon Cabinet-level official since Mike Leavitt served as Secretary of Health and Human Services in 2009.

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.[2][3] Greer attended Brigham Young University where he majored in international relations.[3] He pursued master’s degrees from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University and Sciences Po[4] and later attended the University of Virginia School of Law.[5] Between September and December 2007, Greer worked as a law clerk for the European Court of Justice.[citation needed]

Military service

From 2008 to 2012,[citation needed] 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.[3][6] He was honorably discharged from service in 2012.[citation needed]

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.[3] He is a partner in international trade at King & Spalding.[6] During his time as partner Greer contributed as a speaker at two Federalist Society events.[7]

First Trump presidency

Greer served as the chief of staff to Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer between 2017 and 2020.[6] 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.[8]

Second Trump presidency

Greer being ceremonially sworn in by Vice President JD Vance, 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.[6] Greer is the first Mormon Cabinet-level official since Mike Leavitt served as Secretary of Health and Human Services in 2009.[2][9][10] The Senate Committee on Finance voted 15–12 to approve his nomination on February 12.[11][12] On February 26, the United States Senate confirmed his nomination by a 56–43 vote.[13][14] On April 7, 2025, Greer was ceremonially sworn into office by Vice President JD Vance.[15]

Greer with Indian commerce minister Piyush Goyal, 2025

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.[16][17] 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.[17]

In April 2025,[18] Greer was appointed as Acting Director of the Office of Government Ethics and as Acting Special Counsel of the Office of Special Counsel.[19][20] On August 26, 2025, Greer was succeeded by Eric Ueland as Acting Director of the Office of Government Ethics.[21]

Views

Greer has described trade deficits as “a huge problem”.[22]

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.[23] 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.[24][23]

References

  1. ^ “Trump picks Lighthizer acolyte to be his trade chief”. Politico. November 26, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Benson, Samuel (November 27, 2024). “Trump nominates Latter-day Saint lawyer as his trade chief”. Deseret News. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d “Paradise man has key role in US trade under Trump administration”. Chico Enterprise-Record. April 20, 2018. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  4. ^ “Archived copy”. Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. Retrieved November 27, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ Walch, Tad; Mohsin, Saleha; Hordern, Annmarie; Leonard, Jenny (November 26, 2024). “Trump Team Prepares to Announce Greer as US Trade Representative”. Bloomberg News. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d Swanson, Ana (November 26, 2024). “Trump Selects Jamieson Greer as Trade Representative”. The New York Times. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  7. ^ “Jamieson Greer”. The Federalist Society. November 2, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  8. ^ Swanson, Ana (November 27, 2024). “Trump Selects First-Term Official as Trade Representative”. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  9. ^ Romboy, Dennis (October 30, 2020). “Meet the highest ranking Latter-day Saint in the Trump administration”. Deseret News. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
  10. ^ Cook, Nancy; Taylor, Scott (January 19, 2017). “Complicated but not hostile, LDS-Obama relationship draws to a close”. Deseret News. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
  11. ^ Lawder, David; Shalal, Andrea (February 6, 2025). “Trump’s trade chief nominee Greer says universal tariff needs more study”. Reuters. Retrieved February 7, 2025.
  12. ^ Bridges, Olivia M. (February 12, 2025). “Senate Finance advances Greer to be US trade representative”. Roll Call. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  13. ^ “On the Nomination (Confirmation: Jamieson Greer, of Maryland, to be U.S. Trade Representative )”. www.senate.gov. February 26, 2025. Retrieved February 26, 2025.
  14. ^ “Ambassador Jamieson Greer”. Office of the United States Trade Representative. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
  15. ^ @USTradeRep (April 7, 2025). “Today, @VP Vance held a ceremonial event to swear in Ambassador Jamieson Greer as the United States Trade Representative” (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. ^ “Trump trade rep sees no change on tariff tactics, says some business pain is necessary”. Reuters. 2025.
  17. ^ a b Mena, Bryan (April 9, 2025). “Trump’s top trade official says president’s tariffs are necessary to fix trade deficit ’emergency’ | CNN Business”. CNN.
  18. ^ “Greer serving as acting head of Special Counsel, Government Ethics offices | InsideTrade.com”. insidetrade.com. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  19. ^ “The Guy Running Trump’s Trade War Has 2 Other Government Jobs”. HuffPost. April 9, 2025. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  20. ^ Pressley, Ayanna; Gerald, Connolly; Sánchez, Linda T.; Beyer Jr., Donald S. (April 9, 2025). “Pressley Letter to USTR Greer on OSC” (PDF). house.gov. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  21. ^ “USOGE | Eric Ueland, Deputy Director for Management at OMB, designated as OGE’s Acting Director”. www.oge.gov. Archived from the original on September 13, 2025. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
  22. ^ “Trump’s trade chief nominee Greer says universal tariff needs more study”. Reuters. 2025.
  23. ^ a b “Trump picks Lighthizer acolyte to be his trade chief”. Politico. November 26, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  24. ^ Lawford, Melissa (November 28, 2024). “Trump’s chief trade negotiator backed closer ties with UK in boost for deal hopes”. The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
Political offices
Preceded by

 United States Trade Representative
2025–present		Incumbent


source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamieson_Greer

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