U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer defended the Trump administration’s tariff plan amid the changes to the original agenda.
Greer joined CBS News’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, where host Margaret Brennan asked if the administration has spoken with Chinese leader Xi Jinping after slapping a 125 percent tariff on the country and heightening tensions.
“Right now, we don’t have any plans on that. This issue is truly at the leaders’ level,” Greer replied.
Greer said he spoke to his Chinese counterpart before April 2, which President Trump had dubbed “Liberation Day.” He recently was pressed by a bipartisan group of senators in a testimony.
He said he expects that “at some point” the administration expects to have a conversation with China.
Greer’s remarks come after China announced last Wednesday it would be placing a new 50 percent tariff on U.S. exports, bringing China’s total on the U.S. to 84 percent.
After China retaliated with that tariff, Trump doubled down and said the country would be facing a more than 100 percent tariff.
In the aftermath of Liberation Day, Trump temporarily paused the reciprocal tariffs on various other countries, leveling them all to 10 percent.
Trump then increased China’s tariff to 125 percent, resulting in China doing the same on U.S. goods.
Greer blamed China for the economic state and highlighted the deal other countries have struck with the U.S. to be protected from the tariffs.
“The only reason we’re really in this position right now is because China chose to retaliate,” Greer said. “So many other countries affirmatively said they did not want to retaliate.”
“It was a Chinese decision,” he added later. “They have agency here.”
