President Donald Trump’s chief trade negotiator, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, will be on the congressional hot seat over the next two days as he defends Trump’s controversial decision to impose "reciprocal" tariffs on nearly every country in the world.
The 44-year-old trade lawyer plans to tell Congress that Trump's tariff “strategy is already bearing fruit,” according to testimony prepared for Greer's Tuesday appearance at the Senate Finance Committee, which was obtained by POLITICO. “Nearly 50 countries have approached me to discuss the president's new policy and explore how to achieve reciprocity. Several of these countries, such as Argentina, Vietnam and Israel, have suggested they will reduce their tariffs and non-tariff barriers.”
“These obviously are welcome moves,” Greer continues, while also citing recent auto industry plans to employ more American workers “Our large and persistent trade deficit has been over 30 years in the making, and it will not be resolved overnight, but all of this is in the right direction.”
The annual congressional hearings on the president's trade agenda — Greer will appear before the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday — are attracting increased attention this year following Trump's decision last week to impose a baseline tariff of 10 percent on nearly all imports and tariffs ranging up to 50 percent on 60 trading partners that have the biggest trade surpluses with the U.S., which the Trump administration argues is a sign of unfair trade relations.
Those actions have triggered a major financial market selloff and increased the risk of a recession, due to increased costs of imports and lost export sales as countries, such as China, retaliate against American goods. In addition, Trump and members of his administration have sent mixed signals about whether the tariffs are here to stay or can be negotiated away in exchange for other countries reducing their own barriers.
Greer will face off Tuesday before the Senate Finance Committee, where ranking member Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) have been fiercely critical of Trump’s tariff actions and his handling of the economy.
“In the last week, the White House has been all over the map when it comes to these tariffs,” Wyden will say in his opening statement on Tuesday, according to excerpts obtained in advance. “There is no clear message about how they were determined, what they’re supposed to accomplish, how long they will be in place, whether they’re a negotiating tool or a move to try and cut the United States off from global trade and usher in a new era of 1870s-style protectionism."
Another committee member, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), has decried Trump’s tariff moves as “illegal and another step toward authoritarianism” by usurping tax and trade authority that belongs to Congress.
On the Republican side of the panel, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has crafted legislation with Cantwell to rein in Trump’s tariff power. Other farm state committee members, such as Senate Majority LeaderJohn Thune (R-S.D.), also are worried about foreign retaliation ...
