Having reportedly read Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, in French, during a military tour of duty in Iraq, Jamieson Greer considered himself an unlikely target for accusations of francophobia. But Donald Trump’s US trade representative, hitherto one of the president’s less high-profile cabinet members, found himself in that uncomfortable position amid the acrimonious collapse of bilateral trade talks with Canada that now threatens to degenerate into an all-out trade war between the two close trading partners whose economies are tightly intertwined. An apparent pending deal between Washington and Ottawa aimed at avoiding damaging tit-for-tat tariffs broke down at the last minute, with Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, claiming his country had come “under attack” from the US.
Among the multiple and complex points of disagreement was a Canadian accusation that US negotiators had pressed for a weakening of legal protections for the French language, which is most heavily spoken in the province of Quebec. Canadian provisions include legislation that mandates streaming and online video companies to invest in and promote Canadian content and promote the French language. Carney cast US objections to such regulations as a deal breaker, and said they amounted to “threats to French language and culture”.
For Greer, a fluent French speaker who once served as a Mormon missionary in Belgium, France and Luxembourg, the charge was too much. So I like the Québécois, and I like that they speak French. What we don’t like is a situation where Canada, the federal government, forces American tech companies to take their earnings and give a percentage to their competitors in Canada.” The controversy may be the closest glimpse the public will see of Greer being rattled.
By Thursday, in what was being being seen by some Canadian officials as a potential olive branch, he was peddling a softer line on the language issue. Petty as the act was, it seemed to graphically illustrate the limited freedom of manoeuvre held by anyone representing a president so preoccupied with trade. And Greer is not the only official seeking to steer the president’s aggressive agenda on trade – raising questions over who is really in control.
Those who have met and worked with Greer describe the 46-year-old – who served as a military lawyer in Iraq, where he is reported to have read Hugo’s classic novel between bombardments – as a model of calm and expertise. He been pretty creative in terms of trying to thread the needle with other countries as he tries to promote Trump’s trade policies,” said Wendy Cutler, a former US trade representative’s negotiator who has met Greer several times. His reputation as being very level-headed, a very calm demeanor, and not someone who loses his temper or who grandstands.” It is not known if Greer retained his sang-froid in private as the talks with Canada unravelled, just days after Trump himself publicly declared a deal was at hand.
According to reports, the agreement was derailed after Howard Lutnick, the US commerce secretary, objected to the scale of proposed tariffs reductions on imports of Canadian steel, aluminium and cars, sectors falling under his responsibility after Trump declared them areas of national security under the 1962 Trade Expansion Act. Carney, explaining why Canada decided to abandon the talks, pointed to disunity among the US negotiators. The White House has denied claims of division between Greer and Lutnick, but seasoned commentators are skeptical.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
