Transcript: U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," May 17, 2026

Face The Nation Transcripts Transcript: U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," May 17, 2026 .chip { background-image: url('/fly/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/chip-bgd/chip-bgd-face-the-nation.jpg'); } May 17, 2026 / 9:05 AM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google The following is the transcript of the interview with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on May 17, 2026.MARGARET BRENNAN: We begin this morning with a top member of the president's economic team, United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Good morning to you, Ambassador.JAMIESON GREER: Good morning. Good to be here.MARGARET BRENNAN: It isn't just a matter of sentiment. Gas is at an average of $4.51 a gallon. Americans have spent $45 billion more on fuel since the war began versus a year ago. The stock market is up, but lower-income Americans are pulling back on their spending. The New York Fed reports households earning less than $125,000 a year are fueling up their cars less often. How do you provide relief to the average American?JAMIESON GREER: Well, we know that no one wants to see higher gas prices. At the same time, the president is balancing foreign policy considerations. We know that, in addition to wanting to have low gas prices, we don't want our children or grandchildren to inherit a world where Iran has a nuclear weapon, so the president is focused on affordability in as many ways that he can- that he can. He's bringing jobs back to America. We're focused on getting wages up to offset any kind of increase in prices, and we're seeing prices go down for staples like dairy, cheese, flour, etc. So we're very focused on this. The president's focused on it, and we look forward to seeing those prices come down soon as the operations wrap up in the Gulf.MARGARET BRENNAN: But we have no time frame for that at this point. Let me ask you about what you were just working on in Asia. China said it ag...