Transcript: US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” May 17, 2026

The following is the transcript of the interview with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on May 17, 2026.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We start this morning with a high member of the president’s financial crew, United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Good morning to you, Ambassador.

JAMIESON GREER: Good morning. Good to be right here.

MARGARET BRENNAN: It is not only a matter of sentiment. Gas is a mean of $4.51 a gallon. Americans have spent $45 billion extra on gas since the conflict started versus a 12 months in the past. The inventory market is up, however lower-income Americans are pulling again on their spending. The New York Fed studies households incomes lower than $125,000 a 12 months are fueling up their vehicles much less typically. How do you present aid to the common American?

JAMIESON GREER: Well, we all know that nobody needs to see larger fuel costs. At the similar time, the president is balancing overseas coverage issues. We know that, along with desirous to have low fuel costs, we do not need our kids or grandchildren to inherit a world the place Iran has a nuclear weapon, so the president is targeted on affordability in as many ways in which he can. He’s bringing jobs again to America. We’re centered on getting wages as much as offset any sort of improve in costs, and we’re seeing costs go down for staples like dairy, cheese, flour, and so on. So we’re very centered on this. The president’s centered on it, and we stay up for seeing these costs come down quickly as the operations wrap up in the Gulf.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But we’ve got no time-frame for that at this level. Let me ask you about what you had been simply working on in Asia. China mentioned it agreed with the United States to determine a board of funding to think about Chinese funding right here in the US, and to determine bilateral boards of commerce to debate tariffs. Which merchandise are going to be affected by that board. Are this stuff exterior the present investigations that you’re conducting?

JAMIESON GREER: So, once we take into consideration the Board of Trade, we’re fascinated by how you can handle financial relations between the US and China. These are two economies which might be fairly completely different, and we’re centered on commerce in non-sensitive items. When you speak about delicate items, you recognize the most high-tech stuff, you recognize, issues that can be utilized for navy makes use of, these are issues that- these are nationwide safety points. So we’re seeking to focus on issues like gross sales of agricultural items to China, vitality items, Boeings, medical gadgets. When we speak about the sorts of issues we wish to be importing from China, there are a selection of issues, there could be shopper items, perhaps low-tech objects, and so we have a look at these forms of areas the place we ought to be buying and selling. On the funding facet, the Board of Investment is de facto about discussing key points in US-China funding coverage. It’s probably not an funding program, but it surely’s to attempt to virtually be like a firefighter and put out points once they come up between the two international locations.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So actually this simply appears a message of stability, since you had been already discussing a variety of these items on a bilateral foundation, proper? I imply, what’s new?

JAMIESON GREER: So we’ve got by no means had a Board of Trade or a Board of Investment earlier than, we have at all times had an advert hoc method with China and the United States, which I believe is definitely difficult. I believe it is extra essential to formalize these relations. The United States has a bunch of tariffs, import controls, export controls on China. China has a lot of non-tariff boundaries which have been in place for a very long time, different challenges they impose to dam our imports and issues like that. It’s significantly better to debate these in a formalized means between our authorities and their authorities. In addition to this, we noticed China over the previous couple of days scale back a bunch of nontariff boundaries on agricultural merchandise, corresponding to beef and poultry, et cetera. And so we have seen them already beginning to do issues to facilitate imports from the United States.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, I’ll come again to a few of these in a second, however I wish to ask you about tariffs. The president informed reporters he didn’t focus on tariffs with Xi Jinping in any respect. Are we in an indefinite commerce truce, or had been you bringing that tariff charge again to the place it was earlier than the Supreme Court ruling?

JAMIESON GREER: Well, the Chinese know, and that is a part of our deal, that the United States can elevate tariffs to the larger degree that we had at the time of what we known as the Busan deal in October, when President Xi and President Trump met, following the Supreme Court case in February, about 10 proportion factors had been knocked off the tariff charge for China. We imagine beneath our deal that we’re in a position to elevate that once more. The president is exploring completely different instruments that he has. I do not wish to prejudge a variety of the investigations which might be taking place. The Chinese know, similar to many different international locations we’re dealing with, that we will have a sure degree of tariff to manage our imports, however that we additionally anticipate market opening.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, however the final time you had been right here after the Supreme Court determination, you mentioned that when a few of these tariffs expire in July, that you’d anticipate to roll out new tariffs after the finish of those investigations beneath authority 301. So, are you saying now that you just not anticipate tariffs to come back into place after July?

JAMIESON GREER: Well, I believe I used to be cautious to let you know, as a result of my common counsel at all times tells me to say this. I am unable to prejudge the outcomes of these investigations. Those investigations, in the event that they discover on-tariff boundaries or unfair buying and selling practices, they will authorize the president to take actions like tariffs, like charges on companies, like quotas, issues like that. So we’ll definitely be presenting the president with these choices, if these, if these investigations present what we expect they may present, which is that there is a large drawback with over capability in China and different international locations. So we’ll get again to you on the findings in these investigations once they conclude.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, we did see China on Saturday launch a press release confirming a few of the offers with the US, but it surely was fairly imprecise. There was no point out of the promise to purchase 750 Boeing plans that President Trump informed reporters about if the first 200 go nicely. China mentioned there was a assure by the US to provide plane engines, but it surely did not point out the 400 to 450 GE engines that the president introduced. GE hasn’t commented both. So, how locked in are these agreements?

JAMIESON GREER: So, the 200 Boeings, these are locked in. There’s clearly a future to have extra Boeings. The actuality is, that is the first main buy by China in virtually 10 years of Boeings or orders, reasonably. So that’s- that is going ahead, and like the president mentioned. You know, when and if Boeing delivers, there’s a variety of upside there. With respect to a few of the different particulars. We’re finalizing a truth sheet that can hopefully get out very quickly, so we could be clear about the double digit improve in agricultural purchases we anticipate from the Chinese, and a few of the different issues that occurred and had been agreed to throughout the go to.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, and I do know GE is assembly with China right now, however we’ve not seen something from them on the plane engines. On the ag merchandise, the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board questioned whether or not the summit achieved any of the acknowledged wins, due to how imprecise these items have been. They mentioned “Mr. Trump boasted about fantastic Chinese purchases of US soybeans in aircraft, but China didn’t confirm the sales, and by our count, this is the second time China has bought the same American soybeans, or is it the third?” They’re sort of arguing you are enjoying a shell recreation right here with, like, reannouncing previous offers on previous agreements to buy over a time period. Can you reply these conservative skeptics with any specifics?

JAMIESON GREER: So, to begin with, we have had a deal in place with the Chinese since October that they’d purchase 25 million metric tons of soybeans every year for the remainder of the president’s administration, in order that deal remains to be in drive. What we anticipate with the new buy agreements, the place the particular quantity will likely be introduced very quickly, double digit purchases of mixture agricultural merchandise. When I say mixture, I imply the whole lot else that could possibly be soybeans, that could possibly be beef, that could possibly be grains, that could possibly be dairy merchandise, all types of issues. So we’ve got the present soybean deal that they could be referring to, after which over on high of that we’ve got these agricultural merchandise as nicely, and all of that will likely be facilitated by Board of Trade discussions with the Chinese.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So nonetheless not nailed down, simply an mixture settlement. So what number of concessions did the US make? What had been these concessions to be able to get this?

JAMIESON GREER: Well, one factor, they’re- they’re steadiness trades right here, proper? We’re attempting to get to steadiness commerce with the Chinese. For a very long time, it has been out of whack. So, once you see one thing like what the Chinese mentioned, which I can affirm, a couple of sale of Boeings accompanied by a sale of plane and auto components and spare- auto components, plane components, and people sorts of issues. The Chinese wish to be sure that they’ve common entry to those sorts of spare objects, to allow them to proceed to fly their fleets. So that is one thing we wish to do. We are centered on mutually useful commerce, so once you’re speaking about that sort of factor, what we ought to be exporting, what we ought to be importing, it turns into much less a query of concessions and extra a query of what is mutually useful for each of us. That’s why we’re so centered on non-sensitive commerce, as a result of that does not, that does not require concessions, that is about working collectively, speaking about what they want, what we wish to promote, what we want from them, so we’re already seeing it as they’ve re-registered beef services, the place beef services expired. They’re taking poultry once more, they’re working with us on biotech traits to be sure that these forms of merchandise which have genetic modification can go into China with none drawback.

MARGARET BRENNAN: China nonetheless sells extra to the US than it buys, however that distinction has decreased by about 31 and a half p.c. So, thanks, Ambassador.

JAMIESON GREER : Yes, we’re very blissful to see that progress. It’s a foremost aim that we’ve got, and it is good to be reaching it.