2. Executive Office of the President · Minor

Empower the USTR to set trade policy from the White House

Partially done

Printed page 55 2. Executive Office of the President

“In order to achieve the President's policy goals, a strong USTR must be empowered to set trade policy from the White House with the authority and resources to represent the interests of the President's trade agenda with adequate budget, staff, analysis, and expertise to engage meaningfully in internal and interagency policy deliberations.”

What has happened

Sep 5, 2025 Partially done
The Trade Representative has been given real authority to set policy from the White House, though he shares it. Jamieson Greer was confirmed 56-43 on 26 February 2025, and the tariff architecture built through 2025 runs through his office: EO 14346 provides that on the conclusion of any trade and security framework agreement "the Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative shall determine whether the United States must take any action to implement such framework agreement" and "shall take the necessary and appropriate actions to implement" it — a standing delegation to modify the tariff schedule. USTR has used the authority hard, running Section 301 investigations and actions on China, Brazil, Nicaragua and Vietnam and implementing the EU, Korea, Japan, Switzerland and Taiwan arrangements. What the record does not show is the second half of the Quote — the budget, staff and analytical capacity to match: the delegation is shared with Commerce, and no resourcing decision has been published.
- Executive Order 14346, Modifying the Scope of Reciprocal Tariffs and Establishing Procedures for Implementing Trade and Security Agreements
  Primary Executive branch Sep 5, 2025
- U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote 119-1-94 — Confirmation: Jamieson Greer, of Maryland, to be United States Trade Representative (confirmed 56-43)
  Primary Congress Feb 26, 2025

Research log

What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence

Research notes

Read EO 14346 in full at govinfo. USTR’s Federal Register output in the window — 60-odd notices of Section 301 determinations, tariff implementations and reviews — was listed from the federal records we keep and search, and is the operational evidence behind the description; the two Evidence items above carry the authority and the appointment.

Action: expand
Object: Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
ID: 73