William Reinsch
ON THE RECORD · 10 verbatim quotes · every quote source-verified
“It appears Greer was willing to go farther than Lutnick was.”
William Reinsch · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-31
Reinsch assessed that Greer was more willing to compromise than Lutnick in the Canada trade talks.
“So that allows him to come back to Trump on occasion and say, ‘there’s a better way to get what you want than what you’ve employed so far.”
William Reinsch · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-31
Reinsch described how Greer's approach allows him to occasionally suggest alternative strategies to Trump.
“He figures out legal ways to do what Trump wants to do, and to get as much of Trump’s objectives accomplished as is possible within the framework that he has to operate in,”
William Reinsch · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-31
Reinsch described how Greer works within legal frameworks to achieve Trump's trade objectives.
“Lutnick viewed all this as his turf, and here is Greer, who is the designated guy to be effectively the trade minister if you think about it in the context of other countries, conducting the negotiations,”
William Reinsch · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-31
Reinsch described the turf conflict between Lutnick and Greer over trade negotiations with Canada.
“The larger Canadian objection was not due to interagency American disagreement,”
William Reinsch · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-31
Reinsch argued that the breakdown with Canada stemmed primarily from Trump's own fixed views on trade rather than interagency disagreement.
“Navarro’s worried that the whole USMCA negotiation is really about how do we prevent Canada and Mexico from being a backdoor to Chinese stuff,”
William Reinsch · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-31
Reinsch described Navarro's concern that Canada and Mexico could serve as a backdoor for Chinese imports under USMCA.
“He would probably have argued last week that the deal wasn’t any good because it wouldn’t shut down Chinese imports in the United States.”
William Reinsch · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-31
Reinsch speculated that Navarro would have opposed the Canada deal for not shutting down Chinese imports.
“Trump has very strong fixed views on trade. He thinks tariffs are good. So if you’re going to blame somebody, don’t blame Lutnick or Greer. Blame Trump, because I’m quite confident he had the last word on this.”
William Reinsch · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-31
Reinsch placed ultimate blame on Trump for the collapse of Canada trade talks, citing the president's strong pro-tariff views.
“Greer plays the same role that Lighthizer played,”
William Reinsch · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-31
Reinsch compared Greer's role to that of his former boss Robert Lighthizer in Trump's first presidency.
“From the Canadian point of view, this was a disagreement that developed late in the day and led the Canadians to believe that the United States was moving the goalposts.”
William Reinsch · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-31
Reinsch explained how a late-stage disagreement led Canadians to feel the US was shifting its negotiating position.