Greer: Don't Expect More Trade Deals This Week
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said he doesn't think there will be more deals announced before Aug. 7, when reciprocal tariffs will rise on about 70 countries.
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"I know a lot of these are set rates pursuant to deals. Some of these deals are announced, some are not, others depend on the level of the trade deficit or surplus we may have with the country," he said. "So, these tariff rates are pretty much set."
Greer was speaking on CBS's "Face the Nation" on Aug. 3. He added that he does expect to receive lots of calls from trade ministers "who want to talk more and see how they can work in a different way with the United States, but I think that we're seeing, truly, the contours of the President's tariff plan right now with these rates."
Greer was somewhat contradicted by the head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, Kevin Hassett, on Aug. 4. Hassett said on CNBC: "I think there will be a couple of things finalized this week, there's been a lot of movement. But don't forget, after the reciprocal rates kick in ... we'll continue to talk and there will be more deals after that."
But then Hassett contradicted himself, when the reporter followed up by saying businesses are asking: "How permanent are the tariffs?"
"Tariffs are resolved," Hassett said. "For the most part, the tariff uncertainty is behind us. We've already closed deals with about half of world GDP." He said while they'll get more deals, and they're not totally done, "I think that we found a sweet spot, really."
On "Face the Nation," host Margaret Brennan asked Greer about the costs of tariffs flipping major automakers from profits to losses.
Greer said that's to be expected, as they reap the consequences of having gone overseas to do advanced manufacturing.
"They've taken advantage of unfair trading practices, and the fact that the U.S. has had low tariffs while other countries haven't, and they've taken advantage of that. That's what businesses do. We're all capitalists. And so, if now they have to pay a tariff or build here, the president is creating incentives to bring them back here," he said. "That's why GM has announced investments here in the United States, and that's why we have all these companies and countries announcing investment in the U.S. Because the tariffs create the incentive to do so."
Greer said the president's trade policy isn't for the benefit of major American corporations. "The president isn't doing this so much for the companies. He's doing it for American workers who have seen their jobs offshored to Mexico, to Vietnam, to China," he said.