China committed to not providing material support to Iran: U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer

U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer says they “have strategic stability with China” and Donald Trump is not seeking to have joint military operations with the Chinese

Updated – May 18, 2026 04:09 pm IST – Washington

PTI

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

United States trade representative Jamieson Greer has said President Donald Trump secured a commitment from China not to “provide material support to Iran.” In an interview with American Broadcasting Company (ABC) News on Sunday (May 17, 2026), Mr. Greer explained that the U.S. did not ask China for direct assistance in reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

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“When the President went in, he did not go in asking them to take action in the Straits of Hormuz. He was very focussed on making sure that they didn’t provide material support to Iran. That’s a commitment he obtained and confirmed,” Mr. Greer said on ABC News’ “This Week”. He noted that China has “a clear interest” in reopening the strait but does not want to get involved directly.

“The President isn’t seeking to have joint military operations with the Chinese. I don’t think the American Presidents have ever done that,” Mr. Greer said. “But obviously we want to make sure that they’re not getting in the way of anything we’re doing to try to clarify that situation,” he said.

U.S., China, and the search for stability

While the U.S. and China were engaged in a trade war for much of last year, Mr. Trump told reporters on the flight back to the U.S. that the issue of tariffs did not come up in his conversations with Xi Jinping. However, Mr. Greer said trade negotiations did occur, just not at the leader level.

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“Before the leaders meet people, like me and [Treasury] Secretary [Scott] Bessent and our staff, we meet with our counterparts with the  — on the Chinese side, and we work out among ourselves a lot of issues, so that the presidents don’t have to address it, and that’s why they didn’t address tariffs,” he said.

Mr. Greer also mentioned that the U.S. is considering establishing a “Board of Trade” with China to negotiate trading terms for specific goods. Asked to respond to critics who say the President did not accomplish much on the trip, Mr. Greer said a fact sheet is forthcoming, but highlighted several things he said were agreed upon.

He stated that China agreed to resume U.S. exports from several meat-exporting facilities, review certain biotechnology trades, and purchase 200 Boeing planes, although China has not confirmed the details of any agreements.

“So there are a variety of very concrete things that are already happening, already going into a place, and most importantly, as the president has said, we have strategic stability with China,” he said.

Published – May 18, 2026 03:46 pm IST

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