Jamieson Greer, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be United States trade representative, defended the use of tariffs against Mexico and Canada in his confirmation hearing on Thursday.
Greer, who would play a key role in executing Trump’s trade policy, was asked about the North American tariff threat numerous times during a hearing before the Senate Finance Committee. Trump announced the tariffs as a way to exact national security concessions from the two allies.
Trump had scheduled 25% tariffs to apply to Mexico and Canada this month. He paused them after discussions with the leaders of both countries, citing that they agreed to add more resources to securing their borders with the U.S. The stated goal of the planned tariffs is to pressure the countries to stop the flow of migrants and fentanyl into the U.S. Greer defended using the threat of tariffs for those purposes during the hearing.
Steep tariffs on major trading partners could raise the prices of goods, but Greer pointed out that lives are at stake.
“These are things where — it’s hard to do this,” Greer said. “How do we balance the cost of lives lost to fentanyl against other potential costs?”
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) pointed out that about 80% of New England’s fuel supply comes from Canada and said her constituents could see painful increases in energy prices if Trump imposes the tariffs in a few weeks.
Greer emphasized that the tariffs were designed to blunt the effects on energy prices.
“I think it’s important to note that when the president put out those executive orders related to potential tariffs on Canada and Mexico, they were for 25%, but explicitly, they said it would just be 10% on energy,” he told the committee.
Greer said that in the role he would prioritize coordinating with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security so he can understand where the U.S. is at in negotiations with Canada.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) said the 25% tariffs could lead fewer tourists to travel to her state, which relies heavily on tourism. Tariffs can cause the U.S. dollar to appreciate, which makes it costlier for foreign travelers to visit the U.S.
Greer said that while he understands and respects the importance of tourism, the tariffs are designed to prevent U.S. deaths.
“We don’t want another single fentanyl death,” Greer said. “A kilogram of fentanyl can kill 50,000 people, by some calculations, and we just, we can’t have that.”
Democrats on the committee criticized the Mexico and Canada tariffs throughout the hearing, saying that the planned levies would increase uncertainty and hurt working Americans and the U.S. markets at large.
“This tariff bluff created huge uncertainty that is costing American businesses and putting the global economy on what I would describe as a month-to-month lease,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the ranking Democrat on the committee.
Wyden said that, after meeting with Greer, he didn’t leave confident that Greer expects to be in the room with Trump when these major tariff decisions are being made. Wyden did say that Greer provided a “straightforward commitment” that he would keep Wyden appraised of what is happening with Trump’s trade policy before he reads it in the news media.
Trump has also prioritized the idea of reciprocal tariffs.
Specifically, the president has pushed for Congress to pass the Reciprocal Trade Act, which allows the president unilaterally to impose tariffs of equal size of any tariffs placed by other countries on the U.S. Notably, freshman Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) has already introduced legislation to that end.
Greer pointed out that there is a trade imbalance with some countries, such as Vietnam, which has seen a rising trade surplus with the U.S.
“We have a lot of trading partners like this that enjoy very substantial trade access in the United States, and we don’t have reciprocal access going the other way,” he told lawmakers. “For me, this is a huge problem.”
Greer is an acolyte of Trump’s first trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, who is a China hawk and a noted protectionist. Greer served as Lighthizer’s chief of staff during the president’s first term in office.
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Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) praised Greer’s tenure during the first Trump administration during remarks before the committee. If confirmed, Greer will play a key role in the 2026 review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which was implemented during Trump’s first term.
“He understands USTR’s policymaking since he served as its chief of staff,” Crapo said. “At USTR, he distinguished himself as an effective negotiator in his work on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, which overwhelmingly passed Congress. As many of my Democrat colleagues know firsthand, he worked closely with them on their priorities for USMCA.”