US, China map goods for balanced trade: Greer

Washington, Sep 9 (AHN) The United States and China are identifying non-sensitive goods that could be traded on a more balanced basis, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has said, outlining a mechanism intended to reshape commerce between the world’s two largest economies.

“One of the things that we have set up with China is what we call the Board of Trade, and we are right now doing an exercise with our Chinese counterparts to identify a set of goods that we can trade between us, imports and exports that are non-sensitive, where we get balanced trade,” Greer said.

The trade representative made the remarks during an interview with Financial Times reporter Aime Williams for the FT News Briefing podcast. The Office of the US Trade Representative released excerpts from the conversation on Wednesday.

Greer also defended President Donald Trump’s tariff programme, arguing that it was contributing to a revival of American manufacturing and encouraging companies to bring production back to the United States.

“We’re on a net positive in 2026 for manufacturing jobs in the United States. It’s over 30,000… We see the manufacturing productivity going up. So all of those indicators that we’re looking at for manufacturing are positive and going in the right direction,” he said.

Greer said businesses and farmers he met across the country understood the administration’s effort to strengthen domestic supply chains.

“When I go out into the country and I talk to the small business person, I talk to the farmer, I talk to these folks, most of them tell me, we understand what you’re doing. We know we have to reshore. We’re now doing a third shift, or we’re hiring again,” he said.

The US trade representative also addressed strained commercial relations with Canada, accusing Ottawa of walking away from a nearly completed agreement and choosing to continue retaliating against US commerce.

“The United States made commitments to change things in a material, important way for them. It was a real negotiation with real outcomes and a lot of real benefit for both sides… For us, we’re just putting additional fees on foreign goods made by foreign workers in foreign countries. That’s all a tariff is. It’s just business for us, and Canada’s the only country that’s really decided that they want to [retaliate],” Greer said.

He indicated that the administration would continue pursuing its trade objectives even if the instruments used to implement them changed.

“We have our trade policy and we’re going to pursue it. If we can accommodate you in some areas, we will. But first and foremost, we’re America First, and in our view, we have lost so much of our industry over the years,” Greer said.