U.S. Trade Representative: Tariff rates of various countries "basically determined"

U.S. Trade Representative Greer defended the government's aggressive tariff policy, saying that President Trump has "diplomatic power" to set punitive tariffs to advance the United States' geopolitical interests overseas, and stated that the tariff rates for trading partners have been "basically determined".

The New York Times reported that Greer said in an exclusive interview aired by CBS on Sunday (August 3) that such politically motivated tariffs are essentially sanctions, only "to different degrees".

On July 31, Trump issued an executive order, announcing new tariff rates for over 60 trading partners. When asked if Trump would negotiate more deals in the coming days, Greer replied, "I don't think so." He also said that the new tariff rate was "the rate determined in accordance with the agreement".

Greer said, "When the president examines tariff rates, he considers potential agreements, and we also submit to him the concessions that countries might make and the actions they might be willing to take." The president will compare these with possible tariffs to try to reduce the (trade) deficit. The president will make the final decision after discussing with his advisers.

He said, "I reckon my phone will be ringing non-stop. Many trade ministers hope to hold further talks to see how we can cooperate with the United States in different ways, but through these tariff rates, we have already seen the true outline of the president's tariff plan."

He also said that retaliatory trade sanctions like those imposed against Brazil for suing former President Jair Bolsonaro were decided by Trump, which was beyond his authority because he was merely a "trade official".

Greer was interviewed by CBS on August 1st.

Bolsonaro is an ally of Trump and is known as the "Brazilian version of Trump".

Bolsonaro is facing criminal charges for attempting a coup following his defeat in the 2022 presidential election. The charges include organizing armed crimes, attempting to forcefully overthrow democracy and the rule of law, a coup, violent threats and damaging public property. If all charges are proven, the sentence could exceed 40 years. Trump referred to the Bolsonaro case as a "witch hunt", not only demanding that Brazil stop prosecuting Bolsonaro but also imposing economic sanctions on Judge De Morais of the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court.