US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer Talks China Trade

Summary

---

Bloomberg Talks: US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer Talks China Trade

Date: May 15, 2026
Podcast: Bloomberg Talks
Guest: Jamieson Greer, United States Ambassador / Trade Representative
Host: Bloomberg News (Beijing correspondent, unnamed in transcript)

---

Episode Overview

This episode spotlights a timely and in-depth conversation with US Ambassador and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, taking place on the sidelines of a summit between President Trump and President Xi Jinping in Beijing. The discussion traverses the latest US-China trade negotiations, current and potential purchasing agreements, the status of rare earths and semiconductor deals, regulatory hurdles for American businesses in China, the impact of tariffs, and broader geopolitical tensions including the Taiwan issue and cooperation over Iran.

---

Major Discussion Points & Insights

US-China Trade Agreements and Deliverables

[00:36 – 01:47]

• Purchasing Agreements:
  • Both sides are negotiating significant deals, including large-scale purchases of Boeing jets by China (potentially up to 500).
  • Ongoing and expanding agribusiness: a prior deal covers 25 million metric tons of soybeans per year for three years, with expected double-digit billion-dollar agricultural purchases annually in a broader basket beyond soybeans.
  • China has shown goodwill by renewing beef import licenses; further agreements on energy and medical devices are in play.
• Quote:
  • “Our trade deficit with China went down by a third last year in one year... We're trying to manage the trade around the kinds of things we want to be selling to China.” — Jamison Greer [00:57].

Compliance with Trade Agreements

[01:47 – 02:13]

• China is meeting its commitments on soybean purchases and has started delivering on beef export licenses.
• Most soybean sales occur in the latter part of the year, with some initial fulfillment already seen.

The Trade Truce and Rare Earths

[02:13 – 03:28]

• Trade ‘Detente’ until October: Greer suggests there’s openness to extending the agreement if mutually beneficial.
• Rare Earths: There are ongoing challenges with licensing, but direct US advocacy has led to renewed shipments (notably of “vitrium”).
• • “Sometimes it’s slow ... whenever we see an issue or we hear from specific companies, we engage with our Chinese counterparts and we find them to be constructive.” — Jamison Greer [02:58].

Section 301 Tariffs and Future Directions

[03:28 – 04:48]

• Tariffs remain a managed but contentious part of the relationship.
• China does see them as retaliatory, but both sides are working within defined agreements.
• There’s transparency in investigations; any future tariff adjustments will be public.

Board of Trade and Tariff Nuances

[04:48 – 06:12]

• The upcoming Board of Trade initiative will invite public comment and focus on non-sensitive goods.
• The approach is nuanced—some goods (energy, fertilizer) have never been subject to tariffs; policies are tailored rather than one-size-fits-all, just as some allies (e.g., UK) get exemptions in specific categories.
• • “It’s not out of the norm ... to have nuance in how we’re approaching it. Kind of picking and choosing how we want to trade with countries.” — Jamison Greer [05:39].

Semiconductors, Nvidia, and US Tech Exports

[06:12 – 08:01]

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s appearance prompted speculation, but chip export controls were not a direct topic in the main bilateral meetings.
• US policy strikes a balance between national security and commercial opportunity; decisions on allowing Chinese firms to buy chips (like the Nvidia H200) are up to China and remain fluid.
• • “You want to make sure you strike a balance between national security, protecting high tech, but also making sure that we’re benefiting from overseas markets.” — Jamison Greer [06:36].

US Businesses in China: Regulatory and Structural Hurdles

[08:01 – 09:30]

• New Chinese regulations—particularly supply chain rules—are making it harder for US businesses to operate or restructure in China, especially without clashing with US law.

• • “The Chinese in the past couple of weeks put into place supply chain rules that ... might punish you [for reshuffling supply chains]. That’s a strong concern for me.” — Jamison Greer [08:46].

• Greer notes that US companies have become more realistic about China’s business environment over the past 3-5 years.

  • “It’s good for our companies to realize the objectives of the Chinese government, the Chinese economy. They’re just different than the objectives we have.” — Jamison Greer [09:30].

Taiwan and Political Tensions

[10:04 – 11:36]

• Chinese readouts emphasize Taiwan as a central issue, while US statements focus on economic matters; Greer does not expect the Taiwan issue to interfere with trade forums like the Board of Trade.

• The tone of direct talks is more candid than the often combative public statements.

  • “There was a lot of candid discussion, a lot of off script discussion, which I think is really helpful when you’re talking about the two leaders of the world’s biggest economies.” — Jamison Greer [11:06].

Relationship Dynamics and Progress

[11:36 – 13:24]

• Both leaders toasted one another, signaling improved warmth in the relationship compared to the recent trade war phase.
• Greer is focused on outcomes: the US-China trade deficit has dropped by 33% in a year, with corresponding US manufacturing gains.
• • “It’s not this issue of China versus America as much as it is we’re pro America. We want our domestic economy to do really well.” — Jamison Greer [12:46].

Cooperation over Iran and Global Security

[13:24 – 14:07]

• China agrees with the US on the necessity of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and is pragmatic regarding Iran.

• The US trusts China to limit “material support for Iran,” aiming for regional peace.

  • “They don’t want to be on the wrong side of this. They want to see peace in that area.” — Jamison Greer [13:40].

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On managing the trade relationship:
  “We’re trying to manage the trade around the kinds of things we want to be selling to China...” — Greer [00:57]

• On rare earths:
  “Sometimes it’s slow ... but we find them to be constructive.” — Greer [02:58]

• On tariffs:
  “I haven’t yet met a country where we’ve imposed tariffs and said, thank you, we love these tariffs.” — Greer [03:38]

• On Chinese regulatory barriers:
  “They might punish you [for reshuffling supply chains]. That’s a strong concern for me.” — Greer [08:46]

• On difference in priorities:
  “They’re just different than the objectives we have. We’re trying to make money and be capitalists ... in China, there’s just a political element to their economy that doesn’t exist in the U.S.” — Greer [09:30]

• On candid bilateral talks:
  “There was a lot of candid discussion, a lot of off script discussion, which I think is really helpful when you’re talking about the two leaders of the world’s biggest economies.” — Greer [11:06]

• On outcomes:
  “Our trade deficit with China has dropped by 33%. That's incredible. Went down by $130 billion last year. That’s what we want to see.” — Greer [12:46]

• On China’s stance toward Iran:
  “They want to see peace in that area. President Trump wants to see peace in that area. So we have a lot of confidence that they will do what they can to limit any kind of material support for Iran.” — Greer [13:40]

---

Key Timestamps

• [00:36] – Greer outlines current and upcoming trade deliverables between the US and China.
• [01:47] – Discussion on China’s fulfillment of soybean and beef agreements.
• [02:13] – On extending the trade truce, detente, and rare earths licensing.
• [03:28] – Navigating Section 301 tariffs and future investigations.
• [04:48] – Launching the Board of Trade and nuances in tariff application.
• [06:12] – Nvidia, AI chip exports, and high-tech market strategy.
• [08:01] – Chinese business regulations and impact on US firms.
• [10:04] – Taiwan’s centrality in China’s diplomatic messaging; US focus.
• [11:36] – Reflections on the evolving US-China relationship, mood shift post-trade war.
• [12:46] – Greer underscores improved US trade position with China.
• [13:24] – Discussion of Iran and Chinese cooperation on regional security.

---

Summary Tone

The conversation is candid, direct, and policy-oriented, with Greer offering clear-eyed, pragmatic perspectives on both the opportunities and obstacles in the US-China relationship. The discussion balances economic facts, diplomatic nuance, and strategic vision, providing listeners with a thorough understanding of both the progress and persistent challenges in US-China trade and geopolitical ties.

---

Transcript

[Indiana University Announcer]

Indiana University strengthens tomorrow's workforce with practical real world experience. IU grads make a difference in your community, serving as teachers, nurses and engineers who rise to tomorrow's challenges and meet them. Learn more at iu.edu impact

[Bloomberg Audio Announcer]

Bloomberg Audio

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

Studios Podcasts Radio News I'm now joined in Beijing on the sidelines of this summit between President Trump and Xi Jinping with the United States Ambassador Jamison Greer. Ambassador, thank you so much for joining us.

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

It's good to be here. Thanks for having me.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

So let's start with some of the trade agreements, potentially the purchasing agreements we could see come out of this. The President was talking earlier to some of the press about Boeing jets, about 200 of them. A lot of reporting going into this is maybe they get as high as 500. We saw last night, maybe at a sign of goodwill, China renew licenses for beef imports. Are there soybeans? Are there energy? Can you walk us through some of the deliverables?

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

Yeah, I'm happy to do that. So remember, we're, we're in a situation where we're trying to rebalance our trade with China. We've had a lot of success in that. Our trade deficit with China went down by a third last year in one year. And so we're trying to manage the trade around the kinds of things we want to be selling to China, whether it's Boeing's or soybeans or other ag or energy or medical devices. And so you can see us bit by bit building up this strategy coming out of this week. You're, you heard the President today talk about the Boeings and hundreds of Boeings being purchased by China. We already have a soybean deal with them from our prior meetings of 25 million metric tons a year over the next three years. And we expect to also see an agreement for double digit billion purchases of ags over the next three years per year coming out of this visit. And that's more general. That's, that's aggregate. That's not just soybeans. That's, that's everything else.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

Are they keeping up with those agreements?

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

They have been so on the soybeans, you know, last year they needed to fill up 12 million metric tons. At the end of last year they did that. They've now, you know, we expect most of the soybean sales to go on in the later part of the year, but we've seen some there already. We saw, as you noted, things related to beef exports. Registrations re upped last night. So we're already seeing them start to fulfill some of their promises.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

When it comes to the Daytone, we have this trade agreement truce till October. Will that be extended on this trip?

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

So. So we'll see about that. We have. We have, of course, the, the agreement that goes until this fall. That's all. That's all solid. That's all well and good. There's certainly a willingness on both sides that if this continues to work out well for each country to continue that and to extend this ability to make sure we're getting rare earths, that we're selling the types of things we should be selling to China. And we're trying to manage differences rather than escalate them.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

We hear that some firms. China is dragging their feet when it comes to licenses on rare earths. Was this discussed?

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

We do discuss this. We discuss this at all levels.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

Do you think they are dragging their feet?

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

So with. With a couple of things. Sometimes they do. I would. I would give. I would give them a passing grade on this. We've certainly seen the. The rare earths come back up to better levels. Sometimes it's slow. There are times when we have to go and make our point. You may have seen a couple of weeks ago there were some big shipments of vitrium that came across. That was after advocacy from the US Government. So whenever we see an issue or we hear from specific companies, we engage with our Chinese counterparts and we find them to be constructive.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

Where does this leave the 301 tariffs? Does will China view this as retaliatory given the fact that it seems like the relationship right now is stable and you're in the middle of this detente.

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

So I haven't yet met a country where we've imposed tariffs and said, thank you, we love these tariffs. So. So no one really likes that other than, you know, our workers and our industries. What Chinese know and what. We've agreed that there's going to be a certain level of tariff on the Chinese. So I think as we're rolling out and concluding different investigations under section 301, which again, don't just target China, they cover other countries as well. I think the Chinese are going to be looking at what we're doing there compared to agreements we've had in the past on certain tariff levels and, you know, we'll just have to try to manage that.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

Will you get to the rate that the United States was at on China before the supreme court struck down IEEPA and the fentanyl? 10%.

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

Well, I can't prejudge the outcome of these investigations. They're a legal process, they're ongoing right now. We've received comment, we've had hearings. We'll release the findings of these investigations within the next several weeks and we'll propose action if we think we need to take action. And so if tariffs are part of that action, you know, the world will see them, will be very transparent and public and people will be able to comment on that as well. So I don't, I can't really commit to a given rate or not at this point. We have to go through the investigation.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

Let's leave the discussion on the Board of Trade. When does that begin? There's a lot of reporting. It's about $30 billion of goods on both sides. Is this all accurate?

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

That's right. And so at the end of this, at the end of this meeting, we'll go back to the US and the Chinese will be here. What we intend to do on the US side is put out a call for public comment first and foremost and saying, hey, we're trying to manage this trade with China. We're to trying. We want to focus on non sensitive goods. We think we should be selling them things we, things we think we should be buying from them, trying to facilitate trade in that area. And then we'll, from there we'll be able to interact with our Chinese colleagues and negotiate with them over where we think we have the strongest mutually beneficial trade with our countries.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

Is there a chance though that with this Board of Trade there'll be some goods coming from China that are a lower tariff rate than maybe an ally of the United States?

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

I mean, I don't think we're comparing it necessarily to allies. And if you look at the President's tariff program over the past year, there are certain things that never have really been subject to tariff. You know, energy, energy goods, you know, certain foods, you know, fertilizers, things like that have never been subject to tariffs. There are certain things that we should be buying from China, I think, just like there are other countries where we should be buying things. You saw the President a week ago. He told the UK we're not going to have a tariff on whiskey from the uk so it's, it's not out of the norm of what this administration is doing to have nuance in how we're approaching it. Kind of picking and choosing how we want to trade with countries.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

When it comes to Nvidia and chips. I bring this up because a lot of talk about Jensen Huang. You were on Air Force One. I mean, were you surprised to see him in Alaska at the refuel stop and getting on board. And there's a lot of speculation that something would be done here with chips. When it comes to the H200. In January, the United States greenlit Chinese firms to be able to buy them. Will China allow their companies to buy them?

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

Well, obviously, that's going to be a sovereign decision for China with export controls. They're. They're fluid, right? They change over time. It depends on what threats you see, what's commercially available worldwide, what the Chinese can already do. And so you want to make sure you strike a balance between national security, protecting high tech, but also making sure that we're benefiting from overseas markets. And so those are the kinds of things that went into the H2,200 decision as to whether the Chinese are going to buy or not. Again, they're making their own determinations. They're very committed to domestic production. They often see US High tech as a. Sometimes as a threat to them. Because if we're, if we're ahead of the game like we are on AI chips, sometimes they feel that that can stop their own growth. Obviously, we think it can be helpful to them in the long run, but they'll just have to make their decision on that.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

But there was a lot of speculation that this would be a tangible talking point at the table because of the presence of the Nvidia boss. Did this come up Semiconductors?

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

Well, so. So we have, you know, 15 to 17American business leaders here, and they had actually the opportunity yesterday in a meeting with President Trump and President Xi to come in, talk a little bit about their company. So Jensen was there. He spoke about Nvidia. We also had a variety of other folks there, you know, Cargill, Brian Sykes and a variety of other. Other companies. So all these things come up. This was not a major topic of discussion at the bilateral meeting. We did not talk about chip export controls at the meeting.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

When it comes to the Busan deal, you're really building on that. But since then, what we've seen China do is they've put in a lot of regulations and laws that actually make it difficult for American companies to get a foothold here. And some of them are even contradictory to some US Laws, which would mean that doing business here in China, they'd be against US Law. Did this come up? Do you find it harder or easier for American businesses to gain access to this market?

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

Well, we. We have raised this with our counterparts. The Chinese in the past couple of weeks put into place supply chain rules that when I read them, it Looks to me like they're saying if you're trying to reshuffle your supply chain or get closer to the United States or something like that, they might punish you. So.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

Which a lot of firms are doing.

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

So. So that's a strong concern for me. The thing to remember is with the Busan Agreement, what we're doing now, they build on each other, but they're not comprehensive. They don't solve every problem in the relationship. That's why something like the Board of Trade, we're focused on nonsensitive trade because we know we're going to have differences in these other areas, whether it's export controls or high tech or critical infrastructure or things like that. So those are issues that we raise and we talk about, but we also try to be constructive.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

But I do wonder, you, as a critical individual on China in the past, their rules, their regulations, the subsidies they give to their companies, do you actually welcome that in a sense that you can say to US businesses, this is what I've been telling you. This is why it is hard to do business in China. And these are some of the traps that are set in place?

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

Yeah, I guess what I would say is I am clear eyed on these things and I think it's helpful for our companies to be clear eyed as well. And I think they're a lot more realistic about their expectations about operating in China's market and selling into this market than they were three years ago, certainly more than they were five years ago. So when these things happen, it's good for our companies to realize the objectives of the Chinese government, the Chinese economy. They're just different than the objectives we have. We're trying to make money and be capitalists and flow that money down to workers and families. You know, in China, there's just a political element to their economy that doesn't

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

exist in the U.S. the other political element to all of this, of course, is while you were in this bilateral meeting with the President and Xi Jinping, we had the Chinese readout come out where they made it clear that Taiwan is the biggest issue for them. At the same time, the White House readout didn't mention Taiwan at all. How much is this going to be the biggest hurdle between this relationship and setting up potentially some of the broader discussions like Board of Trade?

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

Well, again, well, I don't expect the Taiwan issue to bleed into Board of Trade. I just don't. We've known for a long time that the Taiwan issue is of key importance to the Chinese. The Chinese know that for us we're interested in, in US Companies and US Workers being successful and leveling the playing field. So it's, it's normal for different countries to have different key objectives. And so it's normal for them to raise that. It's normal for us to talk about wanting to have access to the market.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

But in 2017, you were actually here. I think you might be the only individual part of the President's cabinet now that was here in 2017. You were then the chief of staff of Ambassador Lighthizer. Do you think Xi's warning was the sharpest you've heard on Taiwan?

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

So I would say no. Right. There's a difference between the way we talk in a bilateral meeting and the, the statements that go out from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign affairs, which is famously takes a wolf warrior approach. I would say that the meetings here between President Trump and President Xi, they were quite candid. You know, with the Chinese, when you meet with them, they always have a script and typewritten points and there certainly was some of that. But there was a lot of candid discussion, a lot of off script discussion, which I think is really helpful when you're talking about the two leaders of the world's biggest economies.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

Well, she opened the bilateral talking about Thucydides trap, basically saying, America is the established, more existing power, we are the rising one. And the conflicts could emerge and brew from this sort of tension. And the President called the relationship fantastic. The two gave a toast to each other yesterday. It does feel like there is a warmness here. Do you feel like the relationship has changed from 2017?

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

Well, certainly it's developed more. I mean, it's been nine years. And during those nine years, you know, obviously when President Trump was in office, they didn't have communication, but they have met regularly during, during that time, maybe more so than some of the other leaders that President Trump has interacted with. So it's, President Trump is the most powerful leader in the world and President Xi is, is right up there with him. So I think it's natural for them to have a relationship. It doesn't mean there are no problems. It doesn't mean that there are serious challenges we have to face. It doesn't mean there are things we're trying to deal with to protect our workers and protect our industries. But it does mean that we have to have a constructive relationship.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

It just felt like the images and the rhetoric coming out of yesterday, potentially what we're going to see today, another bilateral meeting, didn't match the trade war that we were in. A year ago. Are you happy with the direction of travel, with this relationship?

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

Well, well, for me, as the trade representative, I'm looking at outcomes. And one year in, our trade deficit with China has dropped by 33%. That's incredible. Went down by $130 billion last year. That's what we want to see. That means we're diversifying from China. We're making more stuff here. You know, we're seeing the manufacturing indicators and manufacturing labor indicators increase in the United States. That's what we're looking at. It's less. You know, it's not this issue of China versus America as much as it is we're pro America. We want our domestic economy to do really well. And we have to kind of manage and control our economic relationship with China to make sure we can achieve our domestic economic goals.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

And just finally on Iran, this was the major talking point on the White House readout. Do you believe Xi Jinping is going to help the United States in potentially reopening the Strait of Hormuz, putting the pressure on the Iranian regime and also at home telling their firms they need to abide by U.S. sanctions?

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

So, first of all, it's really important for China to have the Straits of Hormuz open. No tolling, no military control. That was clear from the meeting. So we welcome that. With respect to Chinese involvement with Iran, our view is the Chinese are being very pragmatic. They don't want to be on the wrong side of this. They want to see peace in that area. President Trump wants to see peace in that area. So we have a lot of confidence that they will do what they can to limit any kind of material support for Iran.

[Interviewer / Bloomberg Host]

Ambassador Guerrero, thank you so much for your time today.

[Jamison Greer, United States Ambassador]

Thank you.

[Bloomberg Audio Announcer]

If you follow markets, you know the value of long term thinking. You plan, you diversify, you prepare for volatility. But even the best strategies can't prevent every bad day. For more than 75 years, Cincinnati Insurance has helped individuals and businesses navigate tough moments. With expertise, personal attention, and independent agents who focus on relationships, not transactions, the Cincinnati Insurance companies, let them make your bad day better. Find an agent at Cinfin. Com.