US Trade Representative Greer expresses optimism on China relations ahead of Trump-Xi summit

Jamieson Greer, the US Trade Representative, struck a notably conciliatory tone on relations with China ahead of an upcoming summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Greer has characterized the current state of the US-China economic relationship as “stable.” His framing suggests the administration is more interested in enforcing what’s already on the table than flipping it over. The strategy: enforce, don’t escalate Greer’s posture heading into the summit centers on compliance rather than confrontation. He has emphasized that the US is not seeking a “massive confrontation” with Beijing, preferring instead to assess whether China has followed through on commitments made during previous rounds of negotiation. Rather than arriving at the table with a laundry list of new demands, Greer appears focused on holding China to existing agreements, particularly around agricultural purchases. Following a May summit in Beijing, Greer projected that China would commit to “double-digit billions” in annual purchases of US farm goods, expanding beyond the traditional soybean pipeline into a broader basket of agricultural products. The May meeting itself produced a set of tar...