▶ 0:24:31The committee will come to order. Ambassador Greer Greer, welcome back to the the best committee in Congress, the Ways and Means Committee. Um uh before we get started, I just wanted to point out um my dissatisfaction for receiving your testimony.
▶ 0:24:55We received your testimony at 7:08 last night and we asked for every witness to do it within 48 hours. And um whether you're in the party that I'm in or not, I think that that's just not duly proper um within our committee.
▶ 0:25:13Um since last April's Liberation Day, the sky has not fallen on the economy as the so-called experts and naysayers predicted. The Trump administration's America first trade agenda is opening new markets to American workers, manufacturers, and farmers, eliminating longstanding tariffs on American products, and securing commitments of over
▶ 0:25:44$1 trillion in investments in our country. Since returning to office, President Trump's administration has signed more than 18 new trade agreements and frameworks that are supporting American jobs, strengthening our industrial base and securing our supply chains. Here are just a few examples of the US wins for manufacturers and American workers.
▶ 0:26:10The European Union will eliminate tariffs on US vehicles from 10% to zero. Cambodia eliminated all tariffs on imports from the United States, including going from 15% to zero on a wide range of US-made machinery and equipment. Taiwan will eliminate tariffs on most vehicles down from a previous range of 15 to 25%.
▶ 0:26:40Malaysia provided preferential tariff rates to most US products including chemicals, electrical equipment, and metals. I represent one of the most agheavy districts in both Missouri and the entire United States. Under President Trump, the wins for America's farmers and ranchers have been nothing short of historic.
▶ 0:27:08Australia agreed to accept US beef for the first time in two decades. Cambodia has dropped its tariffs on American farm products to zero from an average of 12% and even higher rates on certain products like 35% on certain processed food and Japan will buy $8 billion in US agriculture goods, including buying 75% more US rice.
▶ 0:27:39Taiwan will eliminate tariffs on 94% of our agriculture products. The United Kingdom eliminated its 20% tariff on US beef and opened the door to 1.4 billion lers of ethanol. Argentina agreed to eliminate tariffs on some US dairy products that faced a 28% tariff.
▶ 0:28:07Ecuador committed to provide preferential treatment for more than 90% of our agriculture products, including tariff elimination for soybeans, fresh and processed fruit, alcoholic beverages, and tree and ground nuts, as well as for certain dairy, beef, pork, and poultry products. India reduced tariffs on American bourbon from 150% to 100% last year.
▶ 0:28:36and committed to further reduce or eliminate tariffs on all American wine and spirits. The result, a projected 43% reduction in the agriculture trade deficit that was from the Biden administration.
▶ 0:28:56Last year, exports rose to a record $3.4 Our goods trade deficits with China dropped by 32% to its lowest level since decreasing US reliance on a foreign China's share of all US imports dramatically fell from 13.4% to 9.3% in a
▶ 0:29:26single year. President Trump's tariff policies provided the leverage needed to achieve these wins that no other president has been able to ever One area of concern, however, to me and to a large group is in an American President Trump's America first agenda is all about bringing jobs and investment back to the United States.
▶ 0:29:55But we cannot accomplish this goal if our trade policies actually incentivize companies to locate their facilities to Mexico and Canada rather than the United States.
▶ 0:30:09I've had CEOs of several large businesses tell me just in recent weeks that it would be better to locate um one of their major manufacturing facilities in Mexico rather than Texas because under USMCA rules they are able to import many more of their components parts tariff-free then bring the finished product into the United States tariff-free as well.
▶ 0:30:38In this respect, Mexico and Canada have obtained a cost advantage and it must be addressed to help American workers. I support the USMCA, but President Trump is correct that we cannot just rubber stamp the status quo.
▶ 0:30:56As the July 1st joint review deadline near, we must review the improvements that are needed to continue the agreement success and eliminate loopholes like this. We've also seen with USMCA how benefits can fail to materialize for American producers when trade agreements are not robustly enforced.
▶ 0:31:21Mexico should have never Mexico should have never blocked imports of US corn, which was not resolved until shortly before President Trump swearing in. And American dairy farmers still have not resolved their dispute over access to the Canadian This committee looks forward to working with you, Ambassador Greer, and your team throughout the joint review process.
▶ 0:31:47Our country cannot go back to business as usual and reverse the historic gains won by President Trump's trade policies. Even after the Supreme Court's recent ruling, I support the use of section 122 tariffs while the administration continues section 301 and section 232 investigations.
▶ 0:32:09One of the few smart things President Biden, one of the few that President Biden did was keep many of President Trump's section 232 and section 301 tariffs in place because even he knew they were in America's best interest. Looking ahead, this administration must be vigilant and focus on enforcing the commitments trading partners made in these new trade agreements.
▶ 0:32:37Americans must experience the full benefits of these agreements. Another priority is the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The committee provi proved this bipartisan support for AGOA remained strong when we secured renewal for another year. But a long-term reauthorization that advances America's strategic interest is an absolute must.
▶ 0:33:03AGOA strength strengthens our critical supply chains and helps us counter the harmful influence of nations like China and Russia in one of the fastest growing parts of the world. You and I have spoken many times and agree that ago needs reforms. As you've said, we must set high standards for our trading partners and ensure market access for American producers.
▶ 0:33:28I expect USR to continue to engage with this committee to find a path forward for long-term renewal. President Trump set the stage for a roy economy that helps workers achieve the American dream with new reciprocal trade agreements, progrowth tax relief in the working families tax cuts, and slashing regulations.
▶ 0:33:50We must continue tearing down trade barriers that hurt American producers, farmers, and workers and hold our trading partners accountable. I'm pleased to recognize the ranking member, Mr. Nil, for his opening statement.
▶ 0:34:03Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to uh acknowledge your admonishing the USR's office for not getting that testimony into our hands at an appropriate moment. That's a basic legislative courtesy that we extend to each other here. So there's ample opportunity to review the testimony that has been submitted and a reminder that not only are we a co-equal branch of government, but this is the committee that establishes trade policy based on tax considerations.
▶ 0:34:29So I want to welcome you uh Ambassador If I were to ask today what is America's trade policy, I don't think anybody would know. It's generally based upon pronouncements and chaos. It offends long-term allies. It's driven away some of our best friends. There's the argument in the morning, the retreat in the afternoon, and the declaration of victory in early evening.
▶ 0:34:57If we're upset with the outcome of an election in Brazil, then we put a tariff on Brazilian goods. If we're upset with our NATO allies, we threaten them with Canada has moved away from us. I've never met anybody in my career that was upset with Canada. as a great friend of the United States.
▶ 0:35:19And yet, when we witness what has happened as Prime Minister Carney has made it clear that he no longer sees a future based upon hemispheric priorities for all of us, but instead he now will look more and more to Europe. The president's illegal use of emergency powers to impose these sweeping tariffs, they've been rejected by the courts. And yet the administration continues to reach for new pretexts to raise costs.
▶ 0:35:48Our the American people are feeling it. Our allies, our industries, everybody is feeling these cost increases. What we're paying for gasoline, what we're paying in the marketplace, what people are paying for fertilizer, it is driving considerations that hereto for would have been resolved in an amicable fashion. This damage is not theoretical. Jobs have been lost.
▶ 0:36:12Supply chains have been disrupted and last year there was really very little growth in job opportunities for the American people with the exception of health care which will be felt after the November elections as well as it relates to our hospitals.
▶ 0:36:26Families are paying more now and it looks like for weeks and months to come and it is unlikely that despite the Supreme Court decision that the consumer will be given relief based upon the court striking down the president's tariff plans. Now, as I noted, sky-high gas prices, volatile oil markets, and it is not based on economic fundamentals.
▶ 0:36:53It's the uncertainty that the administration insists on injecting into the global economy. The president campaigned on lowering prices just as he campaigned on growing manufacturing and protecting our workers. Both promises have yet to be met, putting a thumb in the eye of organized labor from every angle of the trade agenda. Let's review prices at the store that have gone since we last met. Where they've gone since we've last met. Beef costs 17% more. Coffeey's up 26%.
▶ 0:37:21vegetables a whopping 48%. This is not pocket change, Mr. Ambassador. This budget busting for so many occurs as they were already struggling to get by. And what has amounted to big numbers in the aggregate, what we're essentially saying is that we've taken $1,700 from the wallets of average Americans, billions siphoned off of pockets of the American people because of these higher prices.
▶ 0:37:46and the administration refuses to do anything other than to offer more chaotic pronouncements. Let's be clear, tariffs can be a tool when used strategically and lawfully, and I've witnessed presidents using that with support from members of Congress. But what we've seen over the past year is neither. It's been scattershot across the board approaches that punishes American consumers. It weakens our competitiveness and isolates us from indeed our best friends in the world.
▶ 0:38:14A trade war with the world was never going to end well. And to no one's surprise, it hasn't. The legal theory underpinning all of this has collapsed. The courts all the way to the Supreme Court have made clear that AIPA is not a blank check for this president nor any president. He can't declare an emergency whenever it's politically convenient and raise costs. It's not just the administration's actions, but the silence of our Republican colleagues.
▶ 0:38:40Republican party since I've been in this with this committee have always been for open markets and free trade and I suspect privately they still are. These price hikes have cost us jobs, created economic uncertainty, and certainly this inaction by our colleagues on the Republican side have contributed to this morass.
▶ 0:39:04The reality as we threaten friends across the globe, soften threats to what we perceived in the past as it relates to Russia and oil prices. It's astounding how this is made up from day to day. The United States can and should do better. Trade policy should be grounded in law. And in this committee, there was a bipartisan tone to trade. It's being undermined even as we arrive here this morning.
▶ 0:39:28We need to rebuild the trust that is being damaged and restore the Congress rightful role in reigning in executive authority. Any path forward starts with acknowledging what has gone wrong and recommending and recommitting to a trade policy that serves all members of the American family. With that, I yield back my time.
▶ 0:39:48Thank you, Ranking Member. Today's sole witness is United States Trade Representative Ambassador Jameson Greer. The committee has received your written testimony and it will be made part of the formal formal hearing record. Ambassador Greer, you have five minutes to deliver your remarks and you may begin when you're ready.
▶ 0:40:07Thank you, Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Neil. It's good to be here today. Uh it's been a busy year. I'm looking forward to discussing how President Trump's trade policies bring fruit for American workers. I note your comments on the submission of the testimony and assure you that we we take that quite seriously and we'll ensure that that won't happen again. So, thank you. As you know, President Trump inherited the largest trade deficit in human history, $1.2 trillion annually. Between 2020 and 2024, the last year of the Biden administration, US trade deficit in goods increased by over 40%.
▶ 0:40:37The trade def deficit worsened every year by an average of nearly 8% during that period. The result was a trade and domestic production picture that was moving in the wrong direction for American workers. Business sentiment for manufacturing had cratered, wallowing at negative six or 7% for much of President Biden's last two years in office.
▶ 0:40:55After initial recovery from the CO 19 crisis, manufacturing jobs under President Biden dropped from uh 12.9 million in January 2023 to 12.67 million in January 2025, a loss of 230,000 manufacturing jobs in just two years under President Biden. Our supply chain risk also grew as critical production remained reliant on foreign sources or moved offshore. With the loss of domestic production, especially for food, prices remained high.
▶ 0:41:21Consider that in just four years, President Trump's first term agricultural trade surplus had been replaced under Biden by the largest agricultural trade deficit in US history. Uh these circumstances arising from our trade deficit and more broadly our current account deficit represent a national emergency. And it's an emergency that Congress has recognized for decades.
▶ 0:41:39In the 1988 Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act, Congress made clear that, and I quote, "The principal negotiating objective of the United States regarding current account surpluses is to develop rules to address large and persistent global current account imbalances of countries, including imbalances, which threaten the stability of the international trading system by imposing greater responsibility on such countries to undertake policy changes aimed at restoring current account equilibrium, including expedited implementation of trade agreements where feasible and appropriate.
▶ 0:42:08And that's exactly what the president has done in response to our growing trade and current account deficits. In just one year, a combination of tariffs and deals has helped drive a reversal in these trends. Since the introduction of the president's reciprocal trade program in April 2025 through February 26, the latest available data, the US trade deficit in goods decreased by 24% compared to the prior period. Uh instead of an average 8% uh increase, we've now started reversing the trade deficit. And as the chairman pointed out, a large part of this is attributed to reduced dependence on China.
▶ 0:42:38Our trade deficit in goods with China fell to 200 billion in 2025, the lowest it's been since 2004. And China's share of total US imports fell to about 9%, the lowest it's been since China joined the WTO in The president's program has also driven manufacturing business sentiment well above the low level seen during the Biden years. Real manufacturing worker pay has increased by $2,400 in one year under President Trump after a falling $830 over the course of the Biden administration.
▶ 0:43:07Manufacturing productivity surged by 2.4% in the last quarter of 2025. Manufacturing wages increased by 4.7%. In other words, the average American manufacturing worker is producing more goods and getting paid more to do so. There are nearly 440,000 manufacturing job openings in the US, providing lots of opportunity uh for under and unemployed Americans uh to take jobs in the manufacturing sector.
▶ 0:43:30And in 2026, we have the first quarter of positive manufacturing job gains uh since a long-term trend uh that of decreases that started in 2023 under President Biden. And we've seen that the capital goods used for production are skyrocketing uh during President Trump's term with orders exceeding four billion each month of the fourth quarter of 2025. These are levels not seen since before China's entry into the WTO. So we're seeing large uh demand for labor and manufacturing in the United States.
▶ 0:43:58As the chairman pointed out, our agricultural community one is one of the largest beneficiary of these policies with double-digit growth in exports in 2025 for key commodities like corn and dairy. and the act trade deficit is finally falling again. Our service providers are benefiting from new market access. Um we have negotiated a number of new trade agreements in a very short time. In since 1985, the United States negotiated 14 free trade agreements in the last year alone.
▶ 0:44:24We concluded nine agreements on reciprocal trade and additional nine framework deals that will become agreements on reciprocal trade. It's no coincidence that following this blitz of dealmaking, US exports reached 302 billion in January 2026 and 315 billion in February 2026, the highest monthly export figures in US history. So when I hear people saying that trade isn't going well and we're exporting more than we've ever made before and our workers are making more uh and getting paid more to do it, uh we know we we have success.
▶ 0:44:54Uh the entry of China into WTO in 2001 cost this nation millions of jobs and tens of thousands in factories. One recent study found that the negative health outcomes for workers that lost their jobs due to NAFTA outweighed any welfare gains associated with that trade deal. So as we move from the damaging trade policies of the past toward a global system of reciprocal and balanced trade, uh my team and I we we consult with and will continue to consult with this committee, its staff, and other members of Congress.
▶ 0:45:20We've held over a thousand briefings with members of Congress and their staff since the beginning of the administration on every aspect of our work and we intend to continue these robust consultations. I hope today we can have an honest conversation about the need for and value of this new direction of trade policy, something that's been years in the making and is long overdue. Thank you.
▶ 0:45:38Thank you, Ambassador. We'll now proceed to the question and answer session. I'll start with Mr. Buchanan and the vice chair of the committee.
▶ 0:45:47Thank you, Mr. Chairman, uh, for holding this hearing. And I want to thank Ambassador Greer for your leadership and your effort. I know you work on put a lot of energy and some focus and good vision on a lot of these things for joining us here today. International trade is crucial to my state, Florida, as well as the broader US economy. In fact, nearly $200 billion in goods flow from Florida's airports and seapports each year.
▶ 0:46:11Furthermore, agriculture is a cornerstone of forer's economy and how we regulate imports has a direct impact on the future of our domestic producers. I was proud to be the lead Republican on the trade subcommittee when we negotiated and passed USMCA 1.0 in 2019, but think there is a lot more work that needs to be done in terms of moving forward.
▶ 0:46:32As we look uh ahead, it's important that we address areas where the agreement is not working as well as intended in ter for American producers. A couple of questions, Ambassador, one is Ambassador G, we've talked about it a lot. Is Mexico uh government back government back growth in fruit and vegetables production has significantly increased huge in uh compared to what Florida's been able to do.
▶ 0:46:59As I mentioned in a letter that I led to your office, I support seasonal tariff uh quotas to help level the playing field. Furthermore, your your section 301 investigation into Mexico's overcapacity and manufacturing, would you consider expanding that uh review to include fruits and vegetables as well? And I think we've talked about this before.
▶ 0:47:24Uh thank thank you sir. Uh we have spoken about this issue before about seasonality. Obviously we want to import uh fruits and vegetables when we don't make them and seasons when we don't make them and and that's fine but there are seasons when we do make them and we need to make sure that there's not unfair import competition during that period. We want to protect our farmers uh who make these specialty crops in Florida and elsewhere. I was in Mexico earlier this week and I raised this issue specifically with the leadership there.
▶ 0:47:50Um and so we expect that this will be uh included in our USMCA negotiations. U to the extent there are other tools available, legal tools at USR to address this, we're open to that as well.
▶ 0:48:01Yeah. Let me just say in terms of trade, I view it, it's kind of at the end of the day, it should be somewhat fair and our farmers have had some success, but they've just the numbers are like five times greater or something like that. It's a huge thing. So I want to talk to you more about that. Uh unfortunately during the four years previous administration we failed to secure new trade agreements and not did not address the critical issues such as expanding markets access for US companies. Well, I'm glad to see that President Trump has taken action over the last year.
▶ 0:48:32What more can we do as members to be I think as someone mentioned we need to be for a lot of reasons more engaged. I think we end up at the end of the day a better product and I think that's critically important. Uh what's your thoughts?
▶ 0:48:45Well, as as Chairman Smith pointed out, uh he signaled his his robust support for the tariffs that the president's imposing. All of these winds we're talking about, all the, you know, dairy from California that's going to go overseas, all the fruits and vegetables from from Florida and other places that are going to go to foreign markets. All this new access, it is not due to moral persuasion. It's not due to other countries just wanting to do us a solid. That's not what it's about.
▶ 0:49:10It's because President Trump said, "I'm going to protect our markets and I'm going to make sure that if you have access to the US market, you give us effective access." It's just reciprocity. That's all it is. But we have to have support from Congress on this uh on this matter. We need to make sure that we can be able to use this leverage appropriately to have fair market access.
▶ 0:49:28Yeah. Let me just say, you touched on trade deficit. I think it was 1.3 trillion, wasn't it, when the president came in?
▶ 0:49:351.2, sir?
▶ 0:49:36Yeah. 1.2 trillion. And it's what what is it today? So if if you look at at at the end of calendar year it was about of 2025 it was about the same but if you look at since we imposed tariffs in April to February if you compare it it's gone down by about 24%. The trade
▶ 0:49:53let me just say in terms of trade at the end of the day it needs to be somewhat fair. I get back to my earlier point I see a lot of our countries we work with we've got good relationships with but the trade deficits are monstrous. I some of the smaller countries, that's one thing, but some of the big countries um and I don't want to rattle them all off, but there's a lot of them that really do take advantage of it of us.
▶ 0:50:15And I just think at the end of the day, they need to buy if we're buying, uh a bunch of cars from them or whatever we're buying, they need to be buying our beef and other things. It needs to be fair at the end of the day. That's how I look at it. Uh it needs to be a win-win. It hasn't been, but we need to continue to move in this direction. Thank you and I yield
▶ 0:50:35Thank you, Mr. Neil.
▶ 0:50:37Thanks, Chairman. Uh, thanks to House Democrats, the Supreme Court ruled what most of the trade community already knew, and I suspect the USR's office knew as well, and that's that the tariffs were indeed unconstitutional. Now, President Trump owes refunds to everyone who has paid the tariffs. It's going to be interesting to find out how that plays out for sure. These refunds should be issued automatically without the need for bureaucratic red tape.
▶ 0:51:04And I'm anxious to find out how the consumer is going to receive their refunds. Thanks to Representative Horford for having the foresight to introduce the Relief Act, for he knew that this administration would slow walk and maybe deny what is rightfully owed to the American consumer. Report after report has confirmed that the average American family has paid over $1,700 more last year because of the tariffs. These families need to be compensated like what Representative Thompson is outlined in his eagle illegal tariffs act.
▶ 0:51:34But instead of course correcting to the tariff approach, the administration is trying to reinstate AIPA tariffs with indeed a flimsy pretext. American families are struggling under the administration's trade agenda. Gas prices have gone through the roof. Fertilizer has gone through the roof. and all the food that we eat and consume has gotten more expensive and about to get even worse. Mr. Ambassador, can you commit today to let the section 122 tariffs expire without adding new
▶ 0:52:06Uh, ranking member Neil, thank you. Thank you for your comments. The the president, he is his trade policy has not changed. He's not going to go back to the old situation where we had no tariffs and we just let foreign goods made by foreign workers come in without any fee to the detriment of domestic workers. Uh I know that Democrat attorneys general and Democrats here, they want to have that system. They want to have a system where there's no tariffs and all this stuff just comes in. Um but we're not going to have that.
▶ 0:52:34So the president will continue to have tariffs using appropriate legal tools.
▶ 0:52:37Thanks, Mr. Ambassador. I think you know that we don't want that sort of a structure. Our position is that selected tariffs at certain intervals based on perhaps steel dumping in the Midwest, that's an appropriate measure to embrace the tariff. What we see as a chaotic nature of not liking a presidential election in Brazil as becoming a substitute for sensible trade policy. That's what our objections are and that's the scrutiny that we've added.
▶ 0:53:03But the two of us have a good history on and we're both, I think, indeed very proud of what was accomplished. I'm hearing you say publicly that we are unlikely to extend that agreement by July 1st, the deadline and it doesn't look as though the Canadians are receptive to some of the overtures that are being made if at all. We're proud of this economic relationship and it looks like from here we are not going to meet the deadline.
▶ 0:53:31Can you commit to us today that you will work directly with our committee to ensure that USMCA where needed can be strengthened and extended as we envisioned with a at the time what President Trump called the best trade agreement in the history of the world. By the way, just a few months later, he called it the worst trade agreement in the history of the world. So again, it's back to that chaotic uh approach. But this is a big deal for America. Can we get your views on it?
▶ 0:54:02Uh yes, sir. And and certainly I'm going to continue working with you and the committee on USMCA renewal, renegotiation, uh and the like. Uh I don't think we want to rubber stamp it. Uh the idea is, and this was baked into the agreement on purpose, that there would come a time when you would want to either renew it without change or go into a period where you could renegotiate elements of it. I think there are loadbearing pillars in USMCA that we don't think about a lot because they work they work well, right?
▶ 0:54:31Um but there are things that were pointed out like like chairman Smith where third countries are bringing content into Canada or Mexico and bring it into the US to the detriment of our workers. Those things we have to change in our discussions in Mexico this week. We've been focused on rules of origin. We've been focused on economic security. We've been talking about sectors that we need to reshort to North America and to the United States. So, we look forward to working with you on the all of these
▶ 0:54:55Thanks. And uh to recall for new members of the committee, a reminder that that trade agreement was endorsed by the American Chamber of Commerce, the AFL CIO, and the Teamsters Union. 195 Democrats voted for USMCA, and 194 Republicans voted for USMCA. A remarkable feat given the polarization that has surrounded trade in recent years. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 0:55:19Thank you. Um, Ambassador Greer, I I know the Trump administration's working to to ensure our trade policies are America first and benefit the US workers, manufacturers, and farmers. I've had, like I mentioned in my opening statement, I've had multiple manufacturers, um, actually I see one in this room that has talked to me about their concerns of their competitors in Canada and also in Mexico.
▶ 0:55:47um by having a competitive advantage because they're getting all the component parts for the same engines that they try to put together here in the United States, but they have to pay tariffs on them, but all of these companies that are competing with them in Canada are not having to pay on their tariffs.
▶ 0:56:07And so this is an issue that if we really want to focus on manufacturing and investment of manufacturing in the United States, we need to make sure our people are treated fairly or better um than than people who live in other countries.
▶ 0:56:23So assuming the issue is on your radar, and I know it is, um what what is the administration prepared to do to keep those manufacturing jobs here and close the loopholes in USMCA that might provide incentives to ship jobs out of the United States?
▶ 0:56:41Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So one thing if if you look at what's happened over the past few months, Mexico has taken some important steps to help get at this issue. There's much more to do. Mexico on its own has decided to raise tariffs on certain products from China and Vietnam and certain other economies.
▶ 0:57:00And this is because Mexico itself understands that it needs to be better aligned with the United States on trade policy to avoid the kinds of issues you're talking about to avoid subsidized products coming in from Asia and elsewhere and undermining the North American market. So, Mexico has already taken steps on this issue. We need to adjust the rules of origin. In the in Trump's first term working with this committee, we adjusted rules of origin for automobiles and that drove more investment in automotive production in the United States.
▶ 0:57:28We need to take that same model and we need to take it to other goods as well. Uh to make sure that rules of origin are robust and strong to make sure that our manufacturers have an incentive and a comparative advantage relative to
▶ 0:57:41So is Canada making any of those changes that Mexico has? because one of the the manufacturers I see in this room, in fact, his direct competitors are the Canadians and it comes to defense um defense equipment. So, are the Canadians playing by the rules there?
▶ 0:57:59So, so you know, a little bit on steel, they they've done this, but overall they've indicated that they want to uh be trading more. They want to have more trade agreements with more countries. They're doubling down on globalization when we're trying to correct for the problems of globalization. So, those are two models that don't fit together very well. Uh, I have had I've had conversations with Canadians. We're in regular contact. Uh, and we've talked about these issues. Again, there'd have to be a rule of origin uh put in place.
▶ 0:58:25And if the Canadians don't want to have the rule of origin, then we'll have to have some other border control to make sure that we aren't disadvantaged.
▶ 0:58:30Yeah, this is a huge priority of mine, especially in looking at the review of USMCA. I want to make sure under all circumstances, US manufacturers are treated the same or better than other other manufacturers in Canada or Mexico or China or wherever they're at. Um so I appreciate your work there. I've made it clear that we need a long-term reauthorization of of the African Growth and Opportunity Act Trade Preference um program.
▶ 0:58:58AGOA is America first and vital to our national security interest. Uh, it strengthens our critical supply chains and helps America counter the spreading global influence of Russia and China. China is quickly moving to corner Africa's vast critical mineral reserves that have never been more important to our economic security.
▶ 0:59:22Without a Goa, America is handing adversarial nations a free pass to make even further gains on that continent. Ambassador Greer, this committee has worked to build bipartisan support for a long-term reauthorization of AGOA. We secured a one-year extension in February, but we can and must do better. Um, this committee passed out a three-year bipartisan renewal. Of course, it was moved down to a year.
▶ 0:59:53Um, we stand ready to work with your your agency and others to bring AGOA into the 21st century. that will require your agency though prioritizing this work in partnership with us. Um will you commit to to helping secure a long-term reauthorization of AGOA by the end of this year? And what length of have you discussed with the president?
▶ 1:00:18Um so Mr. Chairman, we do commit to working with you for a multi-year authorization. I don't have a specific number yet. We can talk about that. uh our agency very shortly will be circulating a federal register notice to solicit views and input from the public on how we can improve AGOA to meet the goals that you and I share. Uh when we look back at 20 years of AGOA at the end of at the end of that 20-year period, China was the largest uh beneficiary of African trade. So something wasn't working with AGOA. So we want to improve it.
▶ 1:00:47I'm glad to know there's bipartisan support. This past week I met with presidents and prime ministers and trade ministers from Maitius, Madagascar, Nigeria and elsewhere. So this is something that is at the top of our agenda and I think there is a real opportunity to work together to create a longerl lasting uh you know more reciprocal ago. It's great to hear that.
▶ 1:01:07Um, the Trump administration has been mounting a strong effort to open markets for American agriculture, including securing Cambodia's agreement to drop its tariffs on American farm products to zero, Japan's commitment to purchase 8 billion in US agriculture goods, and Taiwan's agreement to eliminate tariffs on 94% of such goods. Unfortunately, the farming communities I represent in southeast Missouri continue to face significant challenges.
▶ 1:01:35Farm economy is in a very, very bad place, including with the rise in fertilizer prices. Um, what more is the administration considering when it comes to addressing concerns faced by our farmers and ranchers?
▶ 1:01:51And is the administration still consider considering utilizing tariff revenue to provide targeted support for American So we we are very aware of uh the in input cost issue and uh you know fertilizer prices skyrocket under the bid administration um and but they still haven't come down enough in our view and I think we we probably all share that view.
▶ 1:02:17uh under the Biden administration, there was an initiative started to allocate money to uh smaller fertilizer producers. That was never acted upon. The USDA is now actively going through applicants to that program to see if there are opportunities uh for for more fertilizer producers to get into the game. We know that there's some concentration in the fertilizer industry. So, bringing in more and smaller producers can be helpful. Um we're also committed to permitting reform and regulatory reform.
▶ 1:02:46We have we have fertilizer producers in the United States who want to open new mines or or or new uh processes but they're slowed down by a regulatory process that that we're speeding up. Uh so these are things that are very important to us and we want to have we want to make sure that the domestic fertilizer we make in the US which is actually very robust. We make a lot here. We want to make sure that that is uh supported and enhanced and that we can continue to get what we need from overseas as well.
▶ 1:03:12Um uh under President Trump's strong leadership, the United States has achieved many, many trade wins in the digital sector, um including compelling Canada to drop its plan to impose a digital services tax against American businesses.
▶ 1:03:28Unfortunately, trade barriers impacting digital service providers continue to grow as Canada, the EU, EU member states, most notably France, and other countries continue to impose DSDs or other digital measures that discriminate against American innovators.
▶ 1:03:50This Congress will not stomach other nations using discriminatory taxes, fees, or regulations to target American businesses, and we will advance legislation to combat such efforts if necessary. Ambassador Greer, you have said that USR may launch section 301 investigations into digital issues.
▶ 1:04:13When can we expect to see those coming and and will there be a focus on any particular economies such as the EU, Korea, Australia and Canada? And will the investigations cover specific measures like DSTs or restrictions on online streaming providers? Thank you, Chairman. This is an area where we're quite focused.
▶ 1:04:39Uh the United States has a competitive advantage that we've developed because of the great innovation we have and that we incentivize here in the United States. Uh our digital trade companies have been some of the most effective and most competitive in the world. Uh and we want to make sure that other countries uh don't discriminate against these companies that they don't unduly burden them that they don't use them as a cash cow. Uh so we have certain you know section 301 u you know potential actions in draft.
▶ 1:05:07Uh the reality is we want to see outcomes in these countries whether it's the European Union uh you know Australia, Korea or or member states within the European Union. We want to see outcomes there. It's not a situation where you want to you know do a 301 and have tariffs just for tariff sake or something. We want to make sure we have outcomes. I have the European Union trade commissioner coming this Friday and this is on my agenda to talk to him about. I met with the French finance minister last week. uh they had they there was a proposal in France to move the digital services taxes up to 6% and they they held off.
▶ 1:05:37They did not act on that. We don't like what they have in place, but but we've helped prevent that. Um so we we do have these tools in our toolkit. Uh we expect to use them if we need to. We're trying to reach negotiated outcomes. Uh but we'll use them if we need to.
▶ 1:05:50Thank you, Ambassador. Mr. Dogget,
▶ 1:05:54Mr. Greer, for most of last year, trade was just a part-time job for you. Uh, as you recall, uh, shortly after President Trump fired a respected career ethics officer who had just been confirmed by the Senate for five-year appointment, you took over as director of the Office of Government Ethics. Uh, you also served as head of the office of special counsel.
▶ 1:06:18So, for much of last year, you were really juggling uh, three different normally Senate confirmed positions, were you not?
▶ 1:06:27That's correct. and you were in charge of the ethical standards for this just after President Trump had fired the public watchdogs, the inspector generals at 17 federal agencies and had emptied out the staff of the ethics office. One of your many responsibilities there as the top eth ethics director was to monitor compliance of senior leaders throughout uh not only the White House but the federal government.
▶ 1:06:54In your tenure, did you find anyone in the administration out of compliance?
▶ 1:06:59So, so during my short tenure at at OGE, uh I
▶ 1:07:04it was almost half a year, right?
▶ 1:07:05I I authorized I authorized the career staff there, non-political staff to operate the agency and I didn't interfere in anything. I didn't find any uh ethical issues nor did they bring anything to my attention.
▶ 1:07:16Well, let me ask you one that relates specifically to trade. Last October when you finalized an agreement to dramatically lower tariffs for Vietnam from 46% to 20%. Was it just a coincidence that Vietnam had just fasttracked a $1.5 billion golf course and skyscraper outside of Hanoi for the Trump Organization?
▶ 1:07:39I don't have any familiarity with any Trump organization deals. Did your office conduct any ethics review or conflict of interest analysis uh before or during these Vietnam negotiations given the simultaneous Trump Organization efforts to get fasttrack for its golf course?
▶ 1:07:55So I was not in charge of OGE in October. Uh and we don't we don't review individual deals. You were in charge of trade. So the fact that uh there was public attention, there were actions taken by the Vietnamese government to speed this up, that was just not a factor for you at all.
▶ 1:08:11So I I mean having a 20% tariff on Vietnam is not really seen as doing a favor for Vietnam.
▶ 1:08:17Well, cutting it from 46 to 20% may be considered a favor by some. And of course, you want to go back up, sir.
▶ 1:08:23Just one of many uh examples. Uh you're also familiar with the fact that Swiss industry chiefs visited the Oval Office gave the president a gold bar worth over $100,000 and a Rolex clock and just after that the uh the tariffs for the Swiss fell from 39% to 15%. Uh let me ask you uh about uh the what you told me last year about the way the trade office operated when you were chief of staff at USR.
▶ 1:08:54Uh and that was my concern about tariff exemptions and a number that were granted because as you know the government accountability office uh showed uh from its analysis of the exemptions that were granted during the first term consider fa considerable favoritism to those who have been Republican donors. Uh I asked you if that could happen again.
▶ 1:09:14somebody just kind of sonnered up to the table at Mara Lago and got some special treatment and your answer was quote no exemptions pair the president end quote that of course has not been the case and while there's not a formalized process there have been a number of exemptions that have been granted uh the process seems to have simply shifted from where there was a public process where the data could be analyzed to one where these favors and gifts uh are not
▶ 1:09:45made public. Uh, did your monitoring as the chief ethics officer include insider
▶ 1:09:52Um, I can I can talk to the career staff at OGE. I didn't personally uh monitor any of this.
▶ 1:09:58Well, you were the director. Did it include betting and prediction markets?
▶ 1:10:02I can check with the office of OG. Well, you you got a request from Senator Schiff and Ggo to determine whether Trump and members of his family were using insider information about tariffs uh to profit. Uh did you take any action about that?
▶ 1:10:16Oh, I didn't. I'd refer you to the office of the general of OT.
▶ 1:10:19Well, you were in charge of it. You that was one of your principal responsibilities there. As you know, the president one time boasted that a friend had made $2.5 billion dollars off the market reversal concerning tariffs. Uh but none of that uh involved you in in doing ethical evaluation.
▶ 1:10:37That's correct.
▶ 1:10:38Uh have you put any safeguards into effect to ensure that the administration does not continue to profit from these sudden ups and downs in tariffs and in the market?
▶ 1:10:48So I I don't run the office of OGE. When we do trade negotiations, there are million factors that go into it dealing with foreign countries.
▶ 1:10:55I'm sure there are,
▶ 1:10:56etc. Uh, and so these are not
▶ 1:10:57Are you do you disagree with the estimate from both Forbes and the New York Times that since Mr. Trump has been in office, his net worth has increased by about $1.4 billion in one year.
▶ 1:11:09I don't know what the president's net worth is. I'm sorry.
▶ 1:11:11Thank you,
▶ 1:11:12Mr. Smith.
▶ 1:11:13Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, thank you, Ambassador. I know you have been very busy. I know that uh you're getting some things done. I appreciate that. kind of reminds me of uh John Madden's quote of dogs don't bark at parked cars. And it reminds me that I think the Biden trade agenda was the parked not just the parked car, but the car with flat tires and and the spare tire was probably fat flat, too. So, I uh you know, you and I have had good conversations.
▶ 1:11:43uh we we share a different perspectives and and I appreciate the fact that we can have a good conversation and I think arrive at a way forward that is good for America and as you know I represent a large swath of American agriculture very proud of that but I know that you've been busy advocating for farmers, ranchers, service providers, manufacturers and that expanding market access, protecting intellectual property and combating anti-competitive practices are not
▶ 1:12:14simple tasks. I don't have to tell you that. But uh I believe that you have demonstrated your commitment to delivering. I appreciate that. Beyond negotiating nine agreements on reciprocal trade, conducting section 301 investigations, and securing past due commitments from current free trade agreement partners, you've also kicked off the six-year review of USMCA. As you know, uh like I mentioned, my district leads the country in agriculture production.
▶ 1:12:38In 2025, Nebraska exported over $1.6 6 billion in agriculture products to Canada and Mexico alone. The USMCA review provides a unique opportunity to take stock of the North American trade relationship in ensuring any concerns are addressed. So my my first question here, we know that the dispute settlement mechanism is is particularly valuable in USMCA.
▶ 1:13:02I I was disappointed to see how long it took on the biotech corn dispute with Mexico, but ultimately we prevailed and I'm I'm happy to say on all those various factors. So I was just wondering if you uh what you might be thinking about the dispute settlement mechanism as you enter into discussions with Mexico and Canada and are there opportunities to make it more efficient?
▶ 1:13:26Thank you uh Chairman Smith. So, so yes, I think there are opportunities to make it more efficient. I think you can put in rules to speed things along. Uh rules to make sure no one can block a, you know, selected arbitrators on a panel and that kind of thing. Uh I think even more important than making sure that the mechanism works is making sure that we have the political will to actually enforce the agreement. I think under the Biden administration uh we saw, you know, slow and limited enforcement.
▶ 1:13:54uh there were our energy companies had a lot of problems in Mexico during that time and eventually consultations were started but no case was ever brought. So I I think you have to you know make sure the mechanism works and I think the bones for it are there and we can do some things to make it more efficient but you have to have the political will as well and Mexico and Canada have to understand that we will act if they don't honor their commitments.
▶ 1:14:16Thank you. separately. I know the administration has recognized that there are some products that simply cannot be produced in the US. Uh and under the AIPA tariffs, those products were placed on what was called the NX2 list. When the administration imposed tariffs under section 122 after the Supreme Court decision, it maintained the unique treatment of NX2 products. As you complete the current section 301 investigations, review their findings and cons and consider potential remedies.
▶ 1:14:41Do you anticipate that any tariffs applied would have similar product coverage to those under IPA or section 122? And if uh NX2 is maintained, would you consider expanding it to include any products identified as unavailable in our country through section 301 public comment process?
▶ 1:14:58Well, at section 301, there's an ongoing investigation, so I I don't want to prejudge it. But what I will say is at a certain point, we will release our findings. If we think responsive action is needed in the form of tariffs or something else, we'll communicate that to the public. We'll have a comment period. People can then comment on, you know, do they think certain things should be out, should be in, etc. And we'll take that into consideration.
▶ 1:15:19Okay. Well, I appreciate that. And again, uh I I know that there are many points that we can celebrate of where you have very diligently gotten other countries to make concessions. I think uh clearly these concessions would not have have been made by other countries without the pressure to do so.
▶ 1:15:40and uh especially other countries wanting to shut out our highquality affordable agriculture products and as the chairman pointed out US agriculture is hurting and uh that when we can see uh advances made in our trade policy where other significant markets buy more American products uh I think the world is better off and given our efficiencies certainly we want to bring more prosperity to US agriculture.
▶ 1:16:10So, thank you. I yield
▶ 1:16:14Mr. Thompson.
▶ 1:16:15Thank you, uh, Mr. Chairman, for having the hearing. And I'd like to submit a number of, uh, articles and documentation for the record, all of which will support some things that I'm going to talk about and questions that I'm going to ask. And, and I'm glad that you got your um, uh, information from the trade ambassador at 7 last night. We didn't get ours till 10 last night. Um, Mr. Ambassador, thank you for being here.
▶ 1:16:42I've got a couple of uh questions u to start with that I I think they I think you can answer them yes or no. U the first one is the president personally involved in setting trade policy for the United States?
▶ 1:16:57Yes, he is.
▶ 1:16:58Is the president a proponent of tariffs?
▶ 1:17:00He is.
▶ 1:17:02And was Liberation Day the president's
▶ 1:17:05Uh the president made this choice. He had a lot of options. That's what he wanted to do.
▶ 1:17:08Thank you. I just for the record, I want to establish that Liberation Day or the plan to set tariffs on every country except Russia is in fact a signature trade decision by this administration. And Mr. Ambassador, a strong manufacturing base is critical for our economic and our national security. And under this administration, we've lost a 100,000 manufacturing jobs.
▶ 1:17:34And um that information is what I is documented by the information I just submitted for the record. Uh and it's important to note that notwithstanding your earlier comments uh under the previous administration we created 700,000 uh manufacturing uh jobs.
▶ 1:17:52The manufacturing job growth under the former administration was because of some great work that we did in this committee uh in part uh chips and science act, the inflation reduction act, uh my legislation for uh to establish tax credits for uh renewable energy production, the bipartisan infrastructure law.
▶ 1:18:14uh we we had a role in all of that and it was uh it it led to a successful manufacturing job growth and after decades of manufacturing losses the former administration created these manufacturing jobs and the current administration is has killed that progress.
▶ 1:18:34As the representative of one of the most productive agricultural districts in our country, I've seen firsthand the perseverance, the ingenuity, and the grit of American farmers. But sadly, fertilizer prices is up are up. Fuel prices are up. farm debt increased in uh 2025 and it's forecasted uh to increase again in 2026.
▶ 1:19:04And farm debt is higher today than at any point since the 1970s, even higher than the farm crisis of the And last year, farm bankruptcies raised by 46%. And again that information is all in what I uh documented by what I uh uh put into the the record. You know Mr.
▶ 1:19:29Ambassador uh Canada uh in 2024 was the largest export market for US wine and in response to this administration's trade policies along with his um talk about 51st making Canada 51st state wine exports to Canada fell 78%.
▶ 1:19:53They fell 35% globally because of the trade policy that we're trying to struggle through. Uh emergency agricultural assistance to specialty crop producers in my district has been zero. The same in California, zero. And specialty crop producers in America, zero. Agricultural producers are being crushed by these high fuel prices.
▶ 1:20:22the high input prices, crushing debt, closed foreign markets, and intense comp uh competition from foreign competitors. American farmers and ranchers didn't cause this problem, yet they're paying the price for the this administration's uh decisions. Mr. Ambassador, consumers paid more for groceries and other goods because of this administration's tariff.
▶ 1:20:50As has already been pointed out, about $1,700 a year have been extracted from uh the family uh uh pocketbook across the country. As Mr. Neil mentioned, I have legislation uh to make sure that in refunding the tariffs collected under the illegal tariffs that those monies are refunded to the people who paid them uh American consumers and not sucked up by corporations uh who pass them on to consumers.
▶ 1:21:21And I'd like to get a commitment from you, Mr. uh ambassador to work with me in my office to make sure that we're able to get that money back to the consumers who paid it.
▶ 1:21:34Can't hear you.
▶ 1:21:34Customs and Border Protection is is on it and they have a portal that's been open for a few days.
▶ 1:21:39So, you'll work with us to make sure that we get this to the right people.
▶ 1:21:42Customs and Border Protection. Yes, sir.
▶ 1:21:44Thank you very much. You yield back.
▶ 1:21:46Thank you, Mr. Kelly.
▶ 1:21:47Thank you, Chairman. Mr. Ambassador, thanks for being here today. just to clear the record a little bit because uh there's a book called Rules for Radicals that I mean it kind of fits in. So if you do something wrong, you always blame the other side for doing it. So I keep hearing about inflation and I think that sometimes we forget that the high inflation was really on June 13th, 2022 for gasoline. It was over $5 a gallon.
▶ 1:22:10So, as much as we'd like to blame the disruption in global supplies that are taking place right now today, it actually without anything going on in the world other than watching the price rise, we were okay with that. There was not not too much said about it other than if you were the guy paying for the gas. Um, so inflation inflation until uh January uh 20th of of 2025 uh we changed it from inflation to affordability.
▶ 1:22:41So you could have doubledigit inflation and you just go along with it because that's just the way things go. But once President Trump was uh was sworn into office and it became well things aren't affordable. I said no kidding. When did you shop start shopping? the 21st of of January where you're actually shopping ahead of time. So this who struck John stuff really pays doesn't do anything to help our our fellow Americans and we've watched the loss of jobs and everything else happen over the years.
▶ 1:23:06Now one of the questions I wanted to ask you is we've seen an acceleration of Chinese investment into North America especially in the automobile industry which I'm very very close to. China's intent is not fair competition never has been. China's goal is not to compete in the US market, but instead to hollow it out and ultimately limit consumer choice to Chinese brands.
▶ 1:23:27Now, such investments poses significant economic and national security risk to US commerce as goods can be transhipped through Mexico and into heavily integrated supply chains which enjoy preferential treatment under the USMCA. So, as President Trump prepares to head to Beijing for a summit with Presidency next month and engagement around the 2026 USMCA joint review picks up, how is USR approaching its evaluation of Chinese investment in the in North America?
▶ 1:23:55And I would just point out to people, it would be nice if America, you know, we saved the world several times and then because these people were devastated, we opened up our markets to them and said, you need to get back on your feet.
▶ 1:24:08uh we want to help you get there and and we did we helped them get there but in order to pay us back what they did is they came up with tariffs that we couldn't meet and non-tariff trade barriers which I think is a very clever way to keep you out of our markets so with the president going to China what do you think what's the agenda how can we protect US markets
▶ 1:24:30uh I I think everyone knows that no one has been more cleareyed on the challenge posed by the by China the economic challenge and national security challenge uh than President Trump. Uh this is why he put tariffs on China in the first term, including on Chinese automobiles. Uh it's why he pioneered uh rules on information and communication technology to make sure that vehicles that have um that there was a regime so that vehicles that have technology from China in them can't can't be used in the United States.
▶ 1:24:58And uh as the chairman mentioned before, one of the things that President Biden did is he kept those tariffs in place and he used those rules uh to make sure that we're protected from this concern. And so when we go to China next month, uh we will be trying to have a proactive agenda and talk about areas where we should be trading, areas where we should be selling to them and and we should we can be buying from them. These are area these are nonsensitive goods. That's where we're going to focus our conversations.
▶ 1:25:23Uh look, I I think we we've all watched this for so long. I I don't know of a more generous nation in the world than America. And as I said earlier, anytime anything goes wrong anywhere in the world, it's always America that shows up first. If it's some kind of a disaster, some kind of an imbalance, whatever it is, we're always the first one to put our wealth and the lives of men and women. We we go and try to help everybody that we can help anytime they're out there.
▶ 1:25:48I've always just been appalled by the way the rest of the world has treated us and that when it comes time that we actually would work with each other to get there, these non-tariff trade barriers have have shut us out. And I can tell you from being the automobile industry, uh, and I do handle cars that are made in South Korea. I've been to South Korea many times. Please try to go to South Korea come time and try to find a Chevy or a Ford or a Ram. Try to find any of those on the roads there. you'll find out that those are very hard to find.
▶ 1:26:18And the problem is non-tariff trade barriers. Or as much as I love the Korean people, and the fact that they should love us because I think in the early 50s and we were the first responders to get there and and help them out, um I've just always noticed that the rest of the world always treats us like we don't have to worry about everything. The Yanks are going to be okay. Don't worry about them. You don't have to trade with them. You can keep them out of your markets. But if you get in trouble, pick up the phone and give them a call. They'll be the first responders.
▶ 1:26:47I really appreciate what you're doing. It is a tough tough job. So, thank you. Any way we can help you. Please let us know.
▶ 1:26:53Thank you, Mr. Larson.
▶ 1:26:56Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Mr. Ambassador, welcome to the committee. I want to associate myself with the remarks of uh leader Neil and also u bring attention to um unfortunately uh words matter and our president still hasn't clarified even as we watch as the clock still ticks on the elimination of an entire
▶ 1:27:26civilization. Uh he also has called affordability a scam. I assure you that it's not a scam to the vendors that I represent in my district in Harford, including restaurant owner Enrique Enrique Rodriguez, who told me that his food costs were up by as much of as 40%.
▶ 1:27:57He hadn't seen a profit in six months because he refuses to pass on those costs to consumers. Mr. Chairman, I'd like to enter into the record an article from the Connecticut Public uh radio entitled uh Latino restaurants in Harford reckon with tariffs as Scottas considers case. That tells the story, I believe. Without
▶ 1:28:27Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh don't get me wrong, uh Mr. Ambassador, tariffs, uh can be important. They can be an important tool u in helping to address trade abuses by other countries and leveling the playing field for American work workers. But that's not what the president is doing.
▶ 1:28:50His policies have resulted in the loss of more than a 100,000 manua American manufacturing jobs and he is openly hostile to American labor and workers. That's why I'm a proud supporter of ranking member Sanchez bill to stop these disastrous Trump tariffs and require Congress to vote before new tariffs can go into effect.
▶ 1:29:18And that's the key issue here in the legislative brand of branch of government is requiring a vote as is required by the constitution.
▶ 1:29:32Something the president seems that he is above the law and doesn't have to and whether it's declaring war or ignoring the role of Congress with respect to setting tariffs.
▶ 1:29:50Uh Ambassador Greer uh during an interview yesterday on CNBC, President Trump said of tariff refunds, "We're giving a lot of money back to people that hate our country." Ambassador Greer, especially with uh America's 250 years uh approaching that celebration, do you agree with the president that small
▶ 1:30:21applying for refunds they're owed from the president's illegal tariffs on taxes hate our country? So the terrorists were very effective at at keeping out foreign goods made by foreign workers and the money a lot of it is going back to actually foreign companies US subsidiaries here. We know they're small businesses who are unfortunately dependent on China for their supply chains and we don't like
▶ 1:30:49Do you think that uh these these people hate their country?
▶ 1:30:54Oh small businesses don't hate our country but we don't want them dependent on China. We'd much rather buy American.
▶ 1:31:00We don't want them dependent on China either, but we do want them to get the refunds for something that has been burdensome for them and placed on their backs and has hurt them as it did Enrique Requit. Uh, and so it's uh
▶ 1:31:15well, they can apply in the portal and get what they're due. Well, I I I thank you for your uh your testimony uh before us, but I uh hope you're able to convey to the president that uh whether it's war or whether it's tariffs, he needs to come before the United States Congress and we need a vote.
▶ 1:31:40It's not even a question of equal branches of government because in the view of the founders the first amendment in article one seeds that responsibility to the legislative branch of government. And with that I yield back. Mr. Schwiker.
▶ 1:32:00Thank you Mr. Chairman. Um Mr. Mr. Ambassador, um, and some of this is outside your ultimate authority, but, um, you have the overarching information. Um, so congratulations. Uh my understanding is over the last year or so we've cut the trade deficit with China but by almost half but I'm looking at some of the underlying data in regards to you know 150% increase with Taiwan um 30 some% increase with Vietnam
▶ 1:32:31and and I just I want either some reassurance or more data and this is more of a question for my joint economic team than even the ways and means team as we've been trying to analyze the numbers. Is there a chance some of that is just sudden productivity capacity that's popped up in those countries or is some of that trans shshipment relabeling mclassification? Um has China been moving some of its manufacturing capacity out of the country to neighbors?
▶ 1:33:01it it just helping us sort of understand that movement because it is in the numbers and making sure that as a from a policy standpoint we're watching that. Um you know help help me on what the success you've had on China but also the fact that some of the neighboring countries that we're much friendlier with their numbers have really spiked.
▶ 1:33:26Uh yes, we watch this very closely uh because we know that ch there's always been a trans shship shipment issue with China certainly other countries when we when we look at our trade deficit in goods we are we are looking starting at in April because that's when the president put his uh program into place in the in the months in the runup there was a lot of people importing right and and trying
▶ 1:33:46yeah and there was we all
▶ 1:33:49right but if you look from April 2026 to fe 2025 to February 2026 the most recent data available and you compare it to the prior year period. So this is for the whole world. The deficit went down by 24%. So so it is going down. We do think there's some transition from China. We also know that Taiwan makes a lot of our you know AI chips and other things and we're trying to reshore as much of that as possible. So at least a spike in Taiwan is because of that.
▶ 1:34:13It would be really interesting just it's not a criticism it's just sort of understanding you know what is um reshoring of manufacturing to neighboring countries. what is potentially it would help us also when we work with customs to know hey you got some mislabeling um or stamping that's they're gaming things. Um this is more for one if you could ask one of your staff at some point to talk to one of my economists.
▶ 1:34:39Um we are trying to rebuild um inn-out trade deficit numbers and trying to also do the calculations on what was gold you know because we had the unusual spike and just so we were operating with baseline numbers. The third thing that I really care a lot about this and you may be one of the only people you know in the administration who also sees it.
▶ 1:35:04the rest of the world using a refundable VAT tax, value added tax has a structural tax arbitrage that puts us, you know, genetically I'm a free trader, but so much of the industrialized world does a refund of the VAT tax when they sell us something. Yet, when we send them something, they put it on. And that's like an in I think the averages is what like 18 18 and a half points.
▶ 1:35:33Is it appropriate to start thinking about a a a trade policy that says we're free traders but we want equal treatment in the tax world and something that actually is permanent. So it will there'll be a legacy of building a more robust but a much fairer trading system for the United States.
▶ 1:35:57Well well no one will probably ever accuse me of being a free trader for sure. But um I I think you know in 2017 if if we had done a border adjustment tax I I think it would have gone a long way to rectifying this discrepancy you're talking about.
▶ 1:36:11And I compliment you for you've gone way up in my ranking of intellect for knowing that.
▶ 1:36:18Okay. I probably started low down but but I I will say you know the United States has tried to to fix this discrepancy before in the 80s and 90s we had the fisk and the disc. We tried to do these things and guess who said we couldn't do it? The World Trade Organization said we couldn't do it. So this is part of the reason why the global trading system is challenging for us. The president's tariffs, you know, he's had a 10% baseline. It's a little bit of a proxy for border adjustment tax. You can think of it that way. Um so I agree with you. I'm open to discussions.
▶ 1:36:46It just we've built some models saying if you if you actually would equalize that refundable VAT tax and we need to in some ways do something like that for our own manufacturers so we can export to the world and against that arbitrage that crushes so many of our manufacturers who are trying to sell to the world. It's just we'd love to work with you on this.
▶ 1:37:07I I agree with you,
▶ 1:37:08Mr. Chairman. Yield back.
▶ 1:37:10Thank you. Um Miss Sanchez.
▶ 1:37:14Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, Ambassador Greer, are prices on consumer goods lower today than they were a year ago?
▶ 1:37:24Let me get out my data.
▶ 1:37:26Can you do it quickly because I have limited time?
▶ 1:37:28Oh, okay. Well, for some of them they are for sure. Uh, some are still coming down from the 9% inflation rate.
▶ 1:37:33Yeah. The question was, are they lower or higher today than they were a year ago? If you exclude energy, yes,
▶ 1:37:40prices are lower really because as a working mom who grocery shops every week, I have seen prices go up and up and up and you can try to spin it any way you want, but I think consumers uni unanimously agree that President Trump has failed on his promise to bring down costs. Gas prices are at an all-time high with his war in Iran. Healthc care is getting more expensive. and Trump's chaotic on-again off-again tariffs have led to an affordability crisis.
▶ 1:38:09The Supreme Court recently struck down the president's unconstitutional tariffs. And despite that ruling, I'm concerned that American families are still going to continue to face higher prices. They were forced to pay more than $165 billion for Trump's illegal tariffs that the court struck down. Um this week, companies started to apply to get this money back in tariff refunds. Yet the refunds leave out most working families.
▶ 1:38:34Over the last year, companies raise prices and they pass the cost of those tariffs on to the customers. Lower in lower inome families who spend a larger portion of their paycheck on essentials have been forced to absorb the higher costs on everyday goods at the grocery store and housing. You've said that companies should give their tariff refunds back to the workers as bonuses or raises. But it's not just the workers of these companies that deserve a refund.
▶ 1:39:01Do you think the American people who have been paying higher prices because of these illegal tariffs deserve to be paid back, too?
▶ 1:39:09Uh, I I I reject the premise of this. When you look at things like eggs, it's gone down by 45%. Smartphones down by
▶ 1:39:16That's not the question that I asked. The question that I asked is, do you think the American people who've been paying higher prices because of the illegal tariffs should be paid back?
▶ 1:39:25Miss Sanchez, simple yes or no.
▶ 1:39:27They haven't been paying higher prices because of these tariffs. These wages have outpaced inflation all year.
▶ 1:39:33I have limited time. I have limited time. I'm not going to argue about that because I think most Americans can feel the higher prices. But the question is, do you think consumers deserve to be compensated for that? If you don't, just say no and we'll move on.
▶ 1:39:45The Democrat attorneys general asked that the money go to companies. That's what they asked for. And now they have
▶ 1:39:50Well, Mr. Thompson has some my colleague Mr. Thompson has some legislation uh to try to refund some of that to the consumers who paid it out of pocket. Um and small businesses, you said uh can apply for the tariffs. What about the small businesses who had to shutter their doors because they couldn't compete uh because of the tariffs? I've had constituents who own businesses tell me they've had to close their doors forever because they couldn't absorb the cost of the tariffs.
▶ 1:40:15um and they don't h they're no longer in business and they don't have the money to hire attorneys to try to get those um those refunds back. Mr. Horford has a bill that addresses that. Um there really isn't any insight end in sight to these crazy tariffs either because the president said he's going to reimpose the same tariffs using other authorities. All this begs the question is why is the Trump administration so fixated on tariffs?
▶ 1:40:41I mean, he said that it was about bringing back American jobs, but that's far from the truth because, as we've heard over and over again, we've lost nearly a 100,000 manufacturing jobs. So, if Trump's crazy tariffs aren't supporting the American worker, who are they for?
▶ 1:40:57Um, I want to bring your attention to the fact that it was recently reported that Arcelor Middle, a European steel company, gifted to President Trump $30 million worth of foreign steel for his White House ballroom vanity project. Last October, President Trump spoke about the steel donation at an event with billionaire donors, saying the eur European steel was great steel as opposed to garbage steel.
▶ 1:41:24Just two days after that speech, Arceler Middle benefited from a new tariff exemption for steel and aluminum projects products. Ambassador Grew, do you think it's okay to grant tariff exemptions to companies in exchange for their donations to Trump's White House
▶ 1:41:41Uh, no. And I'm not aware of any
▶ 1:41:43Okay. Can you at least agree that the White House, which belongs to the American people, should be built with American materials and not foreign ones? I don't I don't have a bill of materials for the for the ballroom. I'm not
▶ 1:41:56But but I'm not asking if you're involved in that. I'm I'm asking a simple question. Shouldn't the ballroom be built with American goods? I
▶ 1:42:02I mean, I think that we want to, you know, be able to, you know, not have the American uh taxpayer saddled with something and
▶ 1:42:10with a vanity project for building a brand new ballroom that nobody asked
▶ 1:42:14I see that my time has expired.
▶ 1:42:17So, I will yield back before the chairman admonishes me. I would never do that, Miss Sanchez. Um, Mr. Arrington,
▶ 1:42:26with all due respect, Mr. Chairman, what needs to expire is this false narrative that somehow
▶ 1:42:32inflation was a problem uh that occurred on account of the policy decisions of this president and Republican leadership. Le let's unless we have a bad case of amnesia.
▶ 1:42:47Let's recall the four years of failed economic policies, zero leadership in unbridled spending that drove this country to a place where we had inflation like we haven't experienced in almost a half a century. 20% increases in prices across the board. And that was the cost of living disaster that the American people were living with.
▶ 1:43:15And that is the deep hole that our country was in when President Trump showed up his first year. It's amazing. We never heard this narrative from our Democrat colleagues uh Mr. Ambassador until now. But I think it's important to set the record straight.
▶ 1:43:35Um, I'm reminded, by the way, that food prices, because we have a lot of agriculture, a lot of fruit producers in my district went up by almost 30% during the tenure of President Biden and only 2% since this president has been in office. In fact, inflation and interest rates have come down from the fourth quarter of the Biden administration, the last quarter of that administration. Mr.
▶ 1:44:01Ambassador, please work with me here on some simple questions that might elucidate the metrics of success in trade with this president versus the last president. Um, let's start with goods exported. Is it true, yes or no, that the goods exported uh have been record levels in 25 and on pace to even higher record levels in 26?
▶ 1:44:30that is exported goods from the United States. Are they up at a record level in 25 on pace in 26? Yes or no?
▶ 1:44:40Yes. We've never exported this this much in 250 years of American history.
▶ 1:44:43Okay. I think the American people would say that's a win for the US of A. How about our dependency on China? I think most people would say that that they were worried about the national secur security implications of supply chain dependencies especially with our adversary China. Um, true or false? Yes or no? Are we less dependent today on China visav trade?
▶ 1:45:12My understanding is that the trade deficit with China is down 30%. Is that correct? Okay, that's a win for the US of A. So, let's cut through the false narrative. I think it's really projecting the guilt of having put the most regressive tax on working families that we've seen in over in over 40 years.
▶ 1:45:38But nevertheless, the the facts bely that narrative. And let's go to another one. record foreign direct investment as sidecard uh agreements to the deals that have been done to give us basically greater access into foreign markets. Trillions of dollars. I don't know the exact amount, but is is that a record amount of foreign direct investment associated with these trade deals, Mr.
▶ 1:46:07Yes, it is. And countries know that if they want to have access to our market, they need to bring manufacturing here. And so, they're investing to do just that. What else have I left out in terms of uh the successes that have been achieved because of the really good and hard work that you and the president have done to address the trade imbalance and the unfair trade practices perpetrated on our country. Because you see, Mr.
▶ 1:46:35Chairman, we're in very dark and difficult times for our country. I believe this is an inflection point and that was an historic election that gave our president uh the Oval Office gave him a mandate gave him unified Republican leadership and what he has done has been an exception to presidents of all parties for as long as I've been alive maybe since Ronald Reagan he's done the very difficult things that no
▶ 1:47:06one else seems to have the political courage to do with respect to the border with respect to avoiding a nuclear Iran and with respect to uh restructuring the world trade order so we don't bankrupt this country or we're not in a very bad position uh uh from a national security perspective uh uh with respect to dependency any last big metrics I left off of y'all's track record of success
▶ 1:47:32I think it's I think it's important to to just see how the how the president's you know manufacturing jobs under the president are finally positive in the last quarter for for the for the first time since the Biden years. Manufacturing productivity is the highest it's been. Uh capital goods orders are the highest they've been in decades. All of this shows uh that that this is what's happening. Uh you know we have even you know the Wall Street Journal who's not a fan you know they put out an article just one anecdote GE appliances plans three billion US investment to help blunt tariffs.
▶ 1:48:01I'm happy to enter this in the record if you would like. So we are seeing real change real concrete change. It's not about theory. It's not about politics. It's about having more manufacturing uh in America and exporting more.
▶ 1:48:12It's about results. And with that, thank you for your service, your leadership. God bless you. Keep up the good work. I yield back.
▶ 1:48:18Thank you, Mr. Smith.
▶ 1:48:19Mr. Chairman, if we could add that, I ask unanimous consent to add that article for the record.
▶ 1:48:23Without objection. Uh I just want to announce that the votes have been called. There are two votes. We're going to try to work through this process. I'll turn the chair over very shortly to Mr. Smith. Um but we'll we'll go to Miss
▶ 1:48:37Thank you, Mr. chairman and good morning, Mr. Ambassador. You know, I can't uh go to my local grocery store without being stopped by someone uh from my um Alabama constituency complaining about the skyrocketing prices of gasoline and how unaffordable things are uh in their lives. And um they're not they're wondering how we got here and they're also wondering what we're going to do about it.
▶ 1:49:01And so I'm hoping that in our in the course of our conversation that you'll help me uh be able to respond to some of the questions I get about the high prices of things. Um was did you ever um as the as the president's chief trade adviser, did you brief him on the POS, you know, before February 28th and the invasion on the possibilities of what uh war would do in terms of our trade policy and in terms of consumer
▶ 1:49:31goods going up and um and potential trade disruptions? Yes or no? Well, the the president was aware that, you know, Asian countries dependent on oil and gas coming from the Gulf would be affected. We have a lot more resources here. Uh he's very mindful of it. He knows the price of gas has gone up and he's looking to wrap it up quickly to make sure we get back to the good fundamentals on energy.
▶ 1:49:52So, Mr. uh Secretary um Mr. Ambassador, sorry. Um, I I truly believe and my constituents do too, that this was a war of choice that was launched uh by the president without consultation with Congress and that the war has been having uh massive trade implications uh right here at home. I believe Congress and the American people deserve to know if President Trump was aware of the trade consequences. So, I'm glad to know that, you know, he contemplated some of those.
▶ 1:50:19But, uh, in listening to your response to my colleague, uh, Linda Sanchez with respect to the higher prices, um, you know, you can cite all you want if the American people truly believe that their pocketbook is being hit harder and that that what's going on is really disruptive for them. You know, I represent a rural community uh, in the black belt, the heart of the black belt in Alabama, and my farmers are already suffering from higher fertilizer costs.
▶ 1:50:46We talked a little bit about this today, but I wanted to get into it a little bit deeper because, you know, so many of my constituents, my farmers, um, didn't have the resources to buy fertilizer before all of this happened. And so, a lot of them are being impacted about um, planting season. I mean, planting season's come and gone, and many of them didn't make um, their crops this uh, this year. And so, um, you know, I think you know that 30% of the world's fertilizer supply, uh, passes through the straight.
▶ 1:51:16Um, and the president, I'm sure, is aware that his actions have increased fertilizer pricing. It's on the news all the time. Um, but rising fertilizing prices is is a very real problem for my district. Um, over 300 Alabama farmers were recently surveyed by the American Farm Bureau and almost 80% of the farmers said that they will not be able to buy all of the fertilizer they need for this growing season.
▶ 1:51:41Nitrogenbased fertilizer prices have soared over the last uh months uh by over 30% um since the invasion and only 12% of my farmers in Alabama have purchased fertilizer in advance of planting season. This will surely um mean that they'll have a lower crop yield and that prices will increase for the food that they do supply.
▶ 1:52:03Um in the survey, 92% of Alabama farmers uh reported that their financial conditions were worse since last year when President Trump took office. Uh what what do you think I can say to the 92% of my farmers who say that they're worse off? So I I first of all we're we're aware of the effects on on fertilizer particularly for spot prices which is what I think you're talking about. A lot of farmers were covered up in advance. Some weren't and those who are buying on the spot market are seeing increases.
▶ 1:52:33Uh you know we get a lot of pot ash from Canada that's all you know duty-free. We do a lot of phosphate here in the US. Nitrogen we do get from overseas and that's where we're very focused. Uh I think there
▶ 1:52:44and there has been disruption with the straight being closed.
▶ 1:52:46There has been disruption. Yes. I mean, nothing is cost free when you have an Iran that's threatening to go nuclear. I mean, what's the cost of leaving that alone and and letting them do it, right? That's a much higher cost to to everybody. So,
▶ 1:52:57well, we can agree to disagree. I think that Congress should have had the opportunity to know why we were getting into this war and what consequence and have the opportunity to have a a healthy debate about what uh the the the pros and the cons. Nevertheless, we are where we are right now. And um I I I can't tell you with all sincerity how every day that I'm home, I hear something about rising prices.
▶ 1:53:23And so I think that um I think that it's important for us uh to know that wars have consequences. And I think all of us know that there are consequences. But I'm here to tell you, Mr. ambassador that the um the cost of food, fertilizer, um the cost of u you know, gas, all of those are hitting the pocketbooks of ordinary Americans that I represent and they really, really, really want the president to know that they're hurting. Thank you, and I yield back the balance of my time.
▶ 1:53:52Mr. Hearn is recognized for 5 minutes.
▶ 1:53:54Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh thank you, Ambassador Greer, for being here today. Really appreciate it. I want to start by saying thank you for your leadership or your commitment to strengthen America's industries. have a couple questions I'd like to take this opportunity to address. Uh we have spoken on multiple occasions about the issues facing Oklahoma veteranowned aerospace company Covington Aircraft. Aaron Abbott sitting right behind you there is up here a lot uh talking about this issue over the last couple years.
▶ 1:54:18And um I just appreciate the chairman expressing his support for Covington in his opening comments as well. I want to expand on his points a little bit if I could. Covington supports critical maintenance and overhaul work on Prattton Whitney Canada PT6 engines used in agriculture, emergency response, and military aircraft. In alignment with OEM requirements, Covington must source certified replacement parts through the authorized Canadian supply chain. As a result, are subject to a stack of tariffs.
▶ 1:54:45The same fully assembled engine entering from Canada may receive more favorable treatment under USMCA. The result is that an American company employing America workers in Oklahoma is penalized for repairing engines here in America. Current incentives favor foreign competitors conducting offshore repair work who then ship the assemble and overhaul engine back to the United States.
▶ 1:55:08I appreciate your continued commitment to addressing these concerns and can you provide us an update on how USR specifically is working to ensure parts imported from maintenance, repair and overhaul treated consistently with engines themselves and this and thus you know the vital US aerospace capability is not pushed overseas
▶ 1:55:28certainly. Uh, so first of all, I think it's a I think for anyone who wants to rely on this, you know, ca Canada taking advantage of of a of a situation that may be favorable for the moment, I think it's a very high-risisk business proposition for them because it's not going to remain that way. Um, you know, President Trump, he he believes in in tariffs to protect American manufacturing for companies like Covington.
▶ 1:55:52and where you see something uh where there's a a differential or some kind of a tariff inversion, that's something that has to be fixed either through a tariff we impose or some other kind of measure. Uh so we've we've you know our staff has has met with Covington uh other times. I've spoken with the Canadians and I I just can't see that being a long-term possibility to for people to continue to rely on on that market. President Trump is very clear that we're we need to have a fair relationship with Canada and that is not
▶ 1:56:17Well, I appreciate that. and I know you're addressing this and many other issues regarding the USMCA review and appreciate taking a look at that. Appreciate your team meeting with Coington's team. Um it's been duly noted and again thank you for meeting with them. Also uh want to touch on the pillar 2 sidebyside uh deal that we that will bring stability to the international system. That being said, countries around the world are aggressively charging US businesses with audits and discriminary uh discriminatory tax schemes.
▶ 1:56:47Uh, I was pleased to see Germany's discriminatory uh, withholding tax on intellectual property, also known as section 49, that was dug up out of the grave, including USR's foreign trade barriers report. Another concerning case is Mexico's use of targeted arbitrary taxpayer audits against US companies operating in Mexico with American companies having millions added to their tax bill. In some cases, last year, by the Mexican government's own admission, revenues from large business audits increased by 36.6 7%.
▶ 1:57:18What tools uh can you use to address uh Germany's section 49 aggressive audits or other discriminary uh discriminatory tax policies levied against American
▶ 1:57:30Thank you. Uh first of all, I would say that we have a a strong dialogue with the German government on trade and economic issues where I meet with you know their ambassador regularly, their trade minister as well as the economic adviser to chancellor Meritz. um you know they are aware that the United States trade policy is for fairness and reciprocity and so we've been talking about a number of things. I can I can look into uh you know section 49. Obviously our team has looked into it.
▶ 1:57:57We've included it in our national trade estimate uh and we'll assess I'll I'll raise it with them and if if we um can find adequate resolution we can explore additional tools.
▶ 1:58:07Appreciate that again. Thanks for your time. I yield back.
▶ 1:58:11Thank you. Miss Chu is recognized for five minutes. Ambassador Greer, before I begin, I want to quickly thank you for your work on Canada's online streaming act and your consideration of a section 301 investigation. It is very critical for our American creators because our industry generates over $2 trillion in economic activity, including more than $ 33 billion in wages in California.
▶ 1:58:37And policies like the online streaming at risk shifting jobs and investments out of the US and into Canada. Now, um, for my first question, Ambassador Greer, last year I shared with you my concerns about the administration imposing tariffs on products like bananas and coffee beans, goods that the United States simply does not produce at scale. I warned that this approach would raise costs for American families.
▶ 1:59:01Last week, you acknowledged before the appropriations committee that those tariffs were eventually removed after, and I quote, internal economic analysis," unquote. I'm concerned that it took roughly 7 months from April 2025 to November 2025 to reverse those tariffs on products that were clearly never viable for domestic production. No new information was needed to reach this conclusion.
▶ 1:59:27But actually perhaps this delay could have been amilarated if there was tr a transparent or public process for determining those exclusions whether there was input on this process.
▶ 1:59:41So, as you move to reconstruct those tariffs under section 122 after the Supreme Court rejected your administration's use of IPO or the emergency authority, would you commit to a clear public process for determining future exclusions or will these decisions continue to be made internally without clear criteria or stakeholder Uh so uh Miss Chu, the 122 tariffs are already in place and they already account
▶ 2:00:11for these types of products. Uh and the tariffs were in place on those to generate leverage for companies who exported those things to us. Ecuador, Indonesia, we now have deals with those countries. So we don't need tariffs on that. Uh we use them for leverage. Uh going forward, I have section 301 investigations. Uh we don't expect there to be an exclusion process. However, it is a public process. There's a federal register notice that allow companies to comment uh stakeholders, unions, etc. uh we've received lots of comments on that. There will be uh future opportunities for comment as well.
▶ 2:00:40Okay. And now what I would uh like to ask is what you described underscores a broader concern that I want to raise when tariffs are imposed broadly and then exemptions are granted behind closed doors. It creates a system where relief is not based on clear rules but on access and discretion. And increasingly, it is starting to look like a pay-to-play system where the well-connected can secure relief while everyone else is left to bear the cost.
▶ 2:01:08Over the past year, those who've chosen to bow down to President Trump have been rewarded with tariff relief or exemptions shortly after, while everyday people like my constituents in Southern California. watch in disgust as this administration refuses to do anything to refund them the money they were forced to spend due to tariffs we knew were illegal all along for these families.
▶ 2:01:33There is no process, no relief, and no recourse, as you confirmed in your earlier remarks. I'll give you some examples. Apple secured tariff exemptions after its CEO made a million-doll contribution and engaged directly with the administration. a thermoplastics manufacturer owned by major Republican donors received a tariff exemption for its product.
▶ 2:01:57Tariff decisions on electronics benefited companies like Tesla, whose CEO was a major political supporter, and Florida crystals receive a favorable tariff treatment after making multi-million dollar contributions to proTrump groups.
▶ 2:02:15Now, Ambassador Greer, one year ago, you sat before this committee and I actually asked you to confirm that there would not be a pay-to-play system for these terrorists where companies and donors made the pilgrimages to Mara Lago to get exemptions. You actually assured me that would not happen. You said, and I quote, "You have my promise," unquote.
▶ 2:02:35And you do. There are no company specific uh exclusions like this. I I don't even know where this is coming from there. There are no company specific exclusions at all. anytime there's any kind of a change in coverage, uh, the White House puts out a Federal Register notice that explains what's happening and why.
▶ 2:02:50But there are repeated cases where companies with clear political or financial ties to the administration receive favorable tariff outcomes even though the lines may not be drawn exclusively, but certainly they are the ones who get favorable treatment whereas Americans who paid higher prices received nothing. And I do not believe that is fair.
▶ 2:03:15And anytime that the president has changed the coverage for things like bananas or critical minerals we don't mind here. They're available to anyone. It's not company specific. It's just here's the product. Anyone can import
▶ 2:03:27The member's time is expired. Mr. Estus recognized for 5 minutes.
▶ 2:03:31Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Ambassador Greer, for taking your time to be here today. Um we're we're glad to have you back uh in front of the Ways and Means Committee to discuss some of the things the administration's done over the past year to actually implement a true American first policy that places American producers and manufacturers at the center of of his agenda. Um you know, from the very beginning of each of President Trump's two terms, he stood up for American workers and American businesses with all of the different trade policies that you're working to implement.
▶ 2:04:01We know that American products can compete fairly in global markets. Uh when they do, we succeed. Uh there's no better example of that than in my district, the fourth district of Kansas. Uh what we affectionately call the air capital of the world. Nearly every single airplane on the planet uh contains at least one component made in Kansas. And United States is a global leader in aerospace manufacturing.
▶ 2:04:21According to the aerospace uh industries association, the aerospace and defense industry exported over $135 billion worth of goods and had a net trade surplus of 74.5 billion dollars in 1920 in 2023. For over 70 years, aviation sector sustained a trade surplus fueling economic growth.
▶ 2:04:41Free and fair trade agreements like uh the the 1979 agreement on trade in civil aviation uh empower our a our aerospace uh leaders to set the standard for innovation, safety, and reliability all the while growing our economy. To maintain America's competitive position, we must continue building on items like the 1979's agreement success. Same can be said for USMCA. Since it came into force during the first Trump administration, trade with our partners to the north and south have greatly expanded.
▶ 2:05:10In 2025, Kansas spent sent $3.8 billion in goods to Mexico and $2.3 billion to Canada. Both of which are significant increases from pre USMCA. The U but the agreement is not without some issues, some of which have been addressed and others that are still needing to be resolved. The upcoming review on agreement is an opportunity to improve and grow our trading relationships with our two largest export destinations.
▶ 2:05:36I look forward to USR's uh further engagement with the committee to review this agree uh and address outstanding issues while maintaining the beneficial framework of the agreement including the zero for zero framework for aircraft and uh and aircraft parts. Additionally, I want to commend USR's work in securing commitments to prevent digital services taxes on US companies in many of the trade frameworks that you've worked on over the last p past year.
▶ 2:06:02I've been a vocal opponent of DSTs as a a revenue grab by foreign nationals uh targeting American businesses and innovators and as more company as more countries consider these discrimin discriminatory taxes and other novel approaches like Canada's online streaming act to raid the US tax base. I know your team at USR will continue to be proactive in identifying them and using tools including section 301 to defend American interest.
▶ 2:06:28Um, USR's previously identified the digital services taxes as one of the most discriminated policies that other countries are pursuing against American companies. Would you give us an update on where some of the negotiations are with some of these other countries on rolling back the existing DSTs and preventing additional countries from pursuing them?
▶ 2:06:48Uh, yes certainly. You know, just one example, I had the uh the trade minister of Poland in my office about a week ago. Uh, and there has been a proposal in Poland to establish a digital services tax. Uh, and I I actually pulled out a copy of the report on the French digital services tax from the first term that resulted in tariffs on France and I showed it to him and I said, I I really don't want to be in a situation where I have to put out a report that says Poland here instead of France. And I think he received the message. Uh, so we're watching that very closely.
▶ 2:07:18Hasn't come into place. With Canada, they implemented it immediately. uh we worked with them to to get it down and they just repealed that a few weeks ago. So we are seeing progress on this front. We're working with our European partners right now on on this. Uh we know that the you know Turks have this as well. Uh these are things where they know we have strong strong concerns. They know we have 301's available to us as well.
▶ 2:07:40Yeah. Well well thank you. And u you know as I mentioned we we call our Witchaw their capital of the world. Obviously aviation is a big important footprint here. Uh, can you share some of the ideas that the administration is looking at to help strengthen the 1979 agreement on trade with civil aviation to help maintain US leadership in that critical trade sector?
▶ 2:08:01Well, I I mean, first of all, we want to we want to make sure that we have entire manufacturing ecosystems. Uh and so a lot of the manufacturing uh we're seeing now is due to the president's trade policy and people know if they build here that it's going to be protected from foreign unfair trading practices and subsidized goods coming in from overseas. So so that's part of it. Um we also know that there are supply chains established for um you know the aircraft industry that the president has taken to account in his determinations
▶ 2:08:28and obviously some of those things that have built up over time. Uh we've got to correct that imbalance as developed over decades. uh and uh appreciate the work that you're doing in that regard. So I'll yield back, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 2:08:39Thank you. Dr. Murphy is recognized for five minutes.
▶ 2:08:41Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I find it comical for sorry my Democratic colleagues aren't here that they just complain about the actions and results that Republicans have to do when we come in and try to clean up on Isisle 5. I'll just digress for a minute. You know, we have 15 to 20 million people come in the country illegally and they complain about when ICE goes in to enforce our laws. Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan led to the invasion of Ukraine. President Trump tries to clean it up. What do they do? Complaint. Obama and Biden tried to pay off Iran when they lied and lied and lied to us.
▶ 2:09:10President Trump says no more finally to a nuclear Iran. What do they do? Complaint. And now Biden who did nothing on trade for the last four years during his entire administration. Trump administration, the President Trump sees how badly we are being abused in the trade circles and now they complain about us trying to do something about it. It is literally we just try to clean up their their mess and what do they do? Complain about it. And so thank you for all the work that you're doing in trying to clean up their mess and actually try to get fair and uh good policy, trade policy to the US.
▶ 2:09:39That said, we're always in a place where we can improve. Um I want to talk about something that's very close to my heart. Um it's the hope help program in Haiti. I've spent a lot of time working in there uh doing medical work and it's it's a very very important issue for me. It's not only vital for the stability in the western hemisphere but also for our cotton industry which is very important in my district um and benefits from hope. Cotton industry is as you well know is going through very difficult times right now.
▶ 2:10:06It's important to ensure that the cotton industry is prioritizing the trade agenda. The American sumer consumer sadly enough is keeping the Brazilian cotton farmer in business. This is where I've uh I've submitted the Baka legislation and I hope the administration really will get behind that to help the American cotton farmer. Securing a long-term extension of hope is one way we can do to ensure this and as the chairman spoke earlier coupled with a GOA we sent out three years came back one year really want this a much greater extension.
▶ 2:10:36Um the three years is just uh was something we had hoped for and we're falling short. Um Haiti is in our backyard. It's been ravaged by gang violence, instability, and it does it. It behooves us to have a stable Haiti in in our in our own hemisphere. We cannot risk it furthing falling further into chaos. Hope help creates not only jobs in Haiti and creates nearshoring and brings supply chains out of Southeast Asia and back into our western hemisphere.
▶ 2:11:04US imports of Haiti apparel have fallen from 990 million in 2021 to almost half that in 2025. about a 50 plus percent decline. The Haitian apparel employed uh Haitian uh apparel sector employed over 60,000 people. Now it's down to 24,000 people. 24,000 Haitians. A 60% decline. And sadly, the imports of apparel from Southeast Asia have actually increased. Again, this is our hemisphere.
▶ 2:11:32It is our um it is our in our national security. Uh on top of failing uh to secure long-term extension, um Hope helppel was hit with hope eligible products were hit with 10% 122 tar section 2022 tariffs. Meanwhile, CAFTA DR eligible products were exempted from this. I just I don't understand that. Um this creates an unlevel playing field for Haiti. Again, a stable Haiti is a stable United States.
▶ 2:11:59So I ask you this um what is your position and hope of ext establishing a long-term extension of hope and would you would you support a longer extension three years five years maybe hopefully 10 uh thank you and we understand the significance of um you know Hades textile industry in relation to ours and cotton etc.
▶ 2:12:23So I think to the extent that there's going to be movement on a GOA on extension to AGOA I think it makes sense what you're talking about to try to couple those together I think that you know in terms of a preference package u I think we should work together on that front. I don't know what the extension would be but we're obviously open to a number that makes
▶ 2:12:40Yeah. So where where is the administration I mean I I know you're you're open to this. This is a real important issue. Um and you know as usual with things get kicked down the road in here this really has to happen. uh this is our hemisphere. We cannot allow um our hemisphere to collapse. So I I really can't even say this. I know every time I come to this you come to this I always bring this up. It's crit it's critical that we do this. Another priority is restoring tobacco exports to China.
▶ 2:13:06And while we're not specifically supposed to talk about this, I'd really like to know where we are now with our export policies with China. They picked up some other commodities um not specifically with tobacco but what's the strategy for getting China back on board and increasing additional agricultural p purchases uh hopefully having them come from China.
▶ 2:13:26Uh yes and and we are talking in terms of aggregate overall purchases uh from China. There's been a lot a lot of talk about soybeans and we have a very specific commitment on soybeans. Uh but we're also looking to get a commitment from the Chinese you know overall with respect to all agriculture would include anything that's grown including the kinds of products you're talking about.
▶ 2:13:44Um this is something that we hope is a deliverable uh coming in in May when the president goes to China and and we're trying to establish a mechanism with China to facilitate expanded trade in non-sensitive goods which would include of course agriculture.
▶ 2:13:59Yeah. So I mean this is important in the world's economy. You know, I I think it takes a while to train to turn around a battleship, and that's what the administration is doing. There are good, as you pointed out in your initial testimony. There are good highlights that we're seeing. It's going to take a little while to change a trajectory that's been on a downward spiral for quite a quite some time. So, I appreciate the effort. It's not easy. And we can always have complainers and whiners on the other side that don't like the details.
▶ 2:14:24But if you look at the bigger picture and we especially we've if we look back historically 5 years, 10 years, 25 years from now, we'll see that the administration was doing the right things for the American farmer, for the American economy, and for the American people. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I'll yield back.
▶ 2:14:39Thank you, Dr. Murphy. Again, uh thank you, Ambassador. Um, I'm going to announce that the committee will stand in recess until members return from the series of votes, which should uh be fairly short term
▶ 2:36:48the committee will come back to order. Um, recognize Mr. Miller.
▶ 2:36:54Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Truly appreciate it and it's good to see you, Ambassador. Thank you for being here uh this morning and hopefully it won't be too long of a day for you as we continue to go on. Uh but Ohio, the state uh that I come from and represent Ohio 7, ranks as the 10th largest exporting state in the nation, leading in both manufacturing and agriculture. And I thank you uh for USR's attention through recent tours in Ohio as a part of the America First Trade Policies Revital revitalization initiative. And I truly am grateful and it's great to see you out in Ohio.
▶ 2:37:24Uh, as you probably saw, large and small companies throughout Ohio on the front line providing critical goods to everyday Americans. From your morning coffee, uh, which is Smuckers and Wayne County, to consumer and industrial manufactured goods to means for the disabled to live a more fruitful life. This is our America first. Within Ohio's 7th congressional district, international trade contributes 15 cents of every dollar in the region.
▶ 2:37:49It is paramount for many of these vibrant US-based industries to have the tools needed to continue to serve our nation and continue robust economic contributions for consumers and industry alike. Uh just one example uh and I have a few but one from our community. Worcester, Ohio is home to a company that makes communication devices for children and adults with speech disabilities. These tools help people speak, learn, and live more independent lives.
▶ 2:38:17This company proudly builds these products here in the United States, but tariffs are raising their input costs and making it harder to get these devices to the people who need them. The administration says its 2026 trade policy agenda will support growth and strengthen the United States production. How can we make sure it does just that and empowers companies like this one in particular so they can keep making these products in our country and building local economies?
▶ 2:38:45Thank you. So uh we have seen in in the data uh both in the data and anecdotally over the past year uh we've seen that the tariffs have increased and protected American production uh including you know new lines in Ohio, new production facilities etc. Uh we've also heard from stakeholders who have come to talk to us about how shifting supply chains can affect what they're doing. Some have talked about, you know, they may have a higher cost because they've been sourcing for China. We've had tariffs on China for eight years at this point.
▶ 2:39:13Um, and so I think people are are trying to find ways uh to realign their supply chains. Uh, it's it's hard to take 70 years or however you want to calculate it, 40 years of bad offshoring trade policy and turn it back into resilience. We're working with the Small Business Administration as well to make sure that loans are available. So if companies have cash flow issues, maybe they can turn to that. So we're happy to talk to you about methods to mitigate any
▶ 2:39:37Yeah. And look, ambassador, I agree with you and President Trump that our country has been treated unfairly for decades uh in more than half a century when it comes to trade with our country. And it's just my uh you know estimation or opinion obviously that it should be done over a period of time and not just be done overnight.
▶ 2:39:55And my concern is right now that we have companies and I have several more there's just no need to um you know continue to drag on the point but we do have the vast majority of companies in my district uh through Kyhoga Madina Wayne and Holmes that this tariff policy it isn't working for them and it is not a net positive it is a net negative and these are people regardless of political affiliation I understand that maybe overall as you're saying it's been a net positive for the country my job isn't to represent represent the
▶ 2:40:25entire country for that matter. It's not to represent the entire state of Ohio. It's to represent a district uh just compromised of about 800,000 people that it's my job to look out for. And right now, these policies are doing more harm than good.
▶ 2:40:39So I I would really like USR as well as the Department of Commerce to commit uh to opening up a waiver or an exclusionary office just to bring some stability uh and maybe a little less stress and anxiety to our small and mediumsiz business owners which when they get hit with a tariff at port they're not able to pass off that price to the consumer.
▶ 2:41:02I understand that we have been taken advantage of and I agree that it is time for the United States to get back to real fair trade policies with other countries, but my biggest concern is that we have a lot of people who don't have answers with a lot of questions. So, you know, I don't really I don't want to put you on the spot, but I'm going to.
▶ 2:41:19I mean, can you commit to opening up a waiver and exclusionary office from this administration uh or working with this body in order to codify these tariffs that are right now extremely temporary uh for the entire economy unless we codify them into law?
▶ 2:41:35Well, on on the last part, I'm always happy to work with Congress about codifying tariffs. Uh on the first part, I can't commit to open up an exclusion office. Uh the president personally has been very direct that he doesn't want to do this. Um this usually in his experience including from his last term and over going into the Biden term uh people use this as an excuse not to reshore.
▶ 2:41:54That being said going forward if there are you know there are certain investigations going on relative to tariffs and there are federal registered notices that go out and opportunities to comment and to the extent tariffs are proposed companies and the public and others can comment on whether they think that's a good idea or not. So there are opportunities for public engagement.
▶ 2:42:12Thank you Ambassador. Thank you Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
▶ 2:42:14Mr. Davis.
▶ 2:42:17Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and uh thank you, Ambassador. It's good to have you here with us. You know, in my district, prices are up, wages are down, and in some areas, unemployment is high, jobs are scarce, and people are indeed frustrated. So, Mr.
▶ 2:42:41Ambassador, let me ask you, how how does the administration assess the net economic impact of recently proposed and implemented tariffs on US industries, particularly with respect to inflationary pressures, supply chain resistance, and global competitiveness?
▶ 2:43:08And and what empirical evidence can you provide to demonstrate that these tariffs are strengthening domestic production without imposing disproportionate cost on American consumers and small businesses?
▶ 2:43:28Well, well, first of all, trade policy can't fix, you know, a bad business climate in Illinois. That's for sure. I can't fix that with tariffs. But but what we can do we know when we look at the data if we look at February uh CPI it shows that for for goods uh the inflation rate was only 1.2%. Services are higher right because these are things like healthcare and housing and education things that Democrat policy has inflated prices over many years. So when it comes to goods though it's only 1.2%.
▶ 2:43:57Uh we're focusing our trade policy on getting better wages and better jobs. And I entered into the record earlier. Just an example, right, an anecdote of, you know, GE appliance planning a $3 billion US investment to help blunt tariffs. Uh so there are a lot of these folks and companies who are building here because they know if you build here, you don't have to pay a tariff. We're very conscious that Americans um are concerned about prices and we want to work on it. A lot of the, you know, we don't have any tariffs on energy. We don't have any tariffs on fertilizer.
▶ 2:44:26Most of the food we we make here and and we import stuff from Canada, Mexico, it's not subject to a tariff. So, a lot of these things are, you know, the trade policy is designed uh with these types of things in mind.
▶ 2:44:39You know, automotive experts are warning that we're going to be experiencing higher prices and job losses in the automotive industry.
▶ 2:44:53And if these trends continue, what what does the administration propose to do to alter these trends and stop the hemorrhaging in terms of the automotive industry?
▶ 2:45:13Thank you. So, a couple things to keep in mind. We've seen uh prices for vehicles like uh you know, used cars in particular, that's gone down 3.2% 2% in in recent months. Um and and we have seen new investment in auto manufacturing. We've seen Stalantis, for example, bring back a production line from Canada and bring back one from Mexico. We've seen Toyota announce 10 billion dollars of investment. Uh so we're seeing the jobs come back. Again, the trade policy, it's a focus on producing these jobs.
▶ 2:45:40We are seeing it in the auto sector and we watch it closely because I I agree with you. We want to make sure that we have those jobs in production right here in
▶ 2:45:48Thanks, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I'd uh or thank you, Mr. Davis. Like to um recognize myself for five minutes. Uh, Ambassador, thank you uh for your work. Uh I just have a few areas uh that I'd like to just um get your comments on.
▶ 2:46:10One is um and I think as you probably know I recently introduced the Protecting American Streaming and Innovation Act uh which is a bill that would direct USR to initiate a section 301 investigation into Canada's online uh streaming act. That bill is also uh supported by eight of my colleagues here on the committee.
▶ 2:46:32Um, as highlighted in this year's national trade estimate, this type of discriminary audio uh visual and streaming mandate, it's not only limited to Canada, but there are similar measures that are emerging or under consideration in other markets like Australia, Brazil, and uh parts of Europe. Um, and I just want to get your concern. It's a I mean get your thoughts. It's a it's a serious concern. I think that'll have significant impact if that continues to spread.
▶ 2:47:00Of course, Canada's is already um so like to get your thoughts and and would like to know if USR is uh planning to address this issue uh address the potential broader uh of these measures.
▶ 2:47:16Uh certainly so we so we are addressing it. So in the first instance we've concluded nine agreements on reciprocal trade. Uh and in those agreements, we're committing countries not to not to impose digital services taxes, uh not to discriminate against US technology companies, not to employ network usage fees, uh and that kind of thing. So, so on the one hand, we're making deals to do that. Uh you know, on the other hand, you know, we have the potential to use a section 301 investigation like you've talked about, the president has talked about it. What we really want are outcomes.
▶ 2:47:47Um, and if we need to do a 301 to have more leverage to get that outcome, then we can certainly uh do that and use that. Uh, you know, Australia, for example, for a long time they had this uh, you know, the type of acts you're talking about. Uh, we're able to hold them off for quite a long time. You know, we're concerned about them moving forward on this. I've already had a conversation with my Australian counterpart. Uh, we'll continue to work with them. We want to we want to find solutions to eliminate these types of practices or mitigate them.
▶ 2:48:14uh if we can't do it through negotiating then we will use enforcement means to do it.
▶ 2:48:20Sorry, could you speak to where specifically we are uh relative to Canada on the issue?
▶ 2:48:25Uh certainly. So um I'm in regular contact with my Canadian counterparts. You know, we have given them items uh issues that we think are obstacles uh for the trading relationship. Uh there are, for example, they had a digital services tax last year that they uh established and very quickly upon the threat of an enforcement action, they removed it and they finally just repealed it a few weeks ago, which is good movement.
▶ 2:48:53They have the other act though uh pending or or or being implemented. Uh and these are these are issues that we've raised and will certainly raise in the context of USMCA review. Uh and we'll want to eliminate
▶ 2:49:05Thank you. Um next issue. Um, and I don't know what work you've done on this, but uh, my um, area has been particularly hard hit uh, this spring uh, with the aven bird flu. So, we've had like millions of chickens um, wiped out. Uh, and of course, this is an issue across the country, but I think our county, one of my counties was the number one county in relative to the number of birds.
▶ 2:49:33Um, and I think, you know, we're working on vaccination. It's potentially a tool that could help control the disease, but uh, my producers, particularly on the meat side, are concerned about the impact that may have on export markets where some countries, um, are opposed to accepting chickens that have been vaccinated.
▶ 2:49:57Um, and so I was wondering whether that's on your radar, whether we're trying to work that out uh with other countries to protect our flocks, but also ensure that the export markets continue to be open.
▶ 2:50:10So we've had ongoing dialogues and even commitments from other countries with respect to, you know, aven influenza and how it's treated, you know, after an outbreak and etc. I will check on the vaccine issue. uh you know we've urged countries to when we have an issue in the US they to regionalize it so that if one region has it you know others aren't penalized on on respect to the vaccines I'll check with my team uh to see where we are on that specific
▶ 2:50:32okay I appreciate that and I just have a few seconds I've asked many times about uh dairy uh Pennsylvania dairy farmers obviously very very important are some of the most productive in the world but they continue to face barriers in key markets again particularly in uh Canada under USMCA uh and in Europe through geographical indication restrictions. Uh what enforcement actions is USR taking uh in regards to dairy?
▶ 2:51:00So, so first of all, this has been a key area uh for the administration in many of our agreements. We've secured new and additional market access overseas. So, this is a big win for dairy. Uh we had double-digit increase in dairy exports last year. So, so that's that's a good news story. uh on Canada in in particular. This is another issue we've raised with the Canadians. Uh either we have to resolve it uh you know very soon in the context of USMCA negotiations or we'll have to resolve it through an enforcement action.
▶ 2:51:28Yeah. All right. Thank you, Ambassador. Uh and at this time we're going to two to one. So Miss Miller like to recognize you for five minutes of question.
▶ 2:51:35Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you Ambassador Greer for being here today. After a four-year vacuum in the trade arena during Biden's administration, I'm really excited to see with your leadership and President Trump's leadership where the next year will lead us. I want to take the opportunity to ask you about upcoming measures in the digital trade sector. This year's national trade estimate addressed the immediate need to address a host of unjustified digital trade barriers imposed by our trading partners.
▶ 2:52:05I've spoken with you at length about the need to address digital discrimination and that Korea is a particularly bad actor in this sector. Korean officials continue to advance discriminatory regulations including its online platform monopoly act and cloud security assurance program. I believe Korea's and similar actions are being taken by other countries particularly in the EU that they warrant section 301 investigations.
▶ 2:52:33Could you please provide an update on the status of any potential investigations and what might the resulting enforcement actions look like?
▶ 2:52:42Certainly. So with respect to the EU for example and and Korea too uh you know over the past year we have concluded framework agreements with both of these countries uh and both of them have committed to you know fair treatment of US uh platforms. Now, I think with the EU, they have a they probably have a different view of what's fair than we do, right? Um, I have the European Trade Commissioner coming. He's coming on Friday, and this is right up there in our topic of discussion among a handful of other things.
▶ 2:53:12So, it's something that we raise with them consistently. Um, you know, they have there are different divisions in the EU that have authority over this and and we I'm working together with the State Department, with Department of Justice to have an aligned US government position. Uh certainly at USR we can do an investigation. Uh you know we are in negotiations right now. We obvious we want to try to have an outcome there if we can. Uh but we you know we can quickly be able to deploy an investigation enforcement action if
▶ 2:53:42Thank you. Another key factor for advancing the digital trade sector is approving a long-term extension of ecommerce moratorum. I was disappointed to see that a few spoiler countries arbitrarily blocked adop adoption during the WTO ministerial conference held in March. What is your plan for establishing a permanent or long-term extension for ecommerce moratorum?
▶ 2:54:06Do you believe that this can be accomplished during the first postmort general council meeting in Geneva scheduled in May or do you think we should seek plurilateral agreement outside the WTO? Uh well, we're we're trying to do both. Uh so we'll have a meeting in early May and there were two holdouts, Brazil and Turkey, who apparently want to be able to uh assess fees on American digital content. So if they do that, they'll pay a price for sure.
▶ 2:54:34Uh all that being said, we got America got 164 countries to agree with it that we should have a longer extension and we'll we'll move forward to a pluralateral agreement on that
▶ 2:54:44Great. And I finally want to ask you about updates regarding and lifting the Jackson Vanic amendment. You've previously stated that we should strike a deal with Central Asian countries and to optimize the benefits for American companies before list lifting Jackson Vanic. Central Asia is rich in natural resources that we currently largely source from China and Russia.
▶ 2:55:09One path that I can envision toward lifting Jackson Vanic is by establishing a critical minerals agreement between the United States and Central Asian countries. We would achieve this by following something similar to the action plan on critical minerals proposed with Mexico and Japan. What are your thoughts on securing similar agreements with Central Asian countries and subsequently lifting Jackson Vanic?
▶ 2:55:32Well, I think that a a number of US government agencies have had constructive talks with Central Asian republics on on critical minerals, which is very important. It's just one sector among many. And as you know, these countries uh you know, they're they're large countries. They have growing economies and and we should be there. I I think that any kind of you know, when Congress moves to take care of Jackson Vanic or anything like that, I think it certainly should be coupled with movement on critical minerals and other market access that we need into those countries. Thank you.
▶ 2:56:02I yield back.
▶ 2:56:05Thank you. We'll uh now recognize Miss Moore for five minutes.
▶ 2:56:10Thank you, Mr. Ambassador, for for spending all this time with the Ways and Means Committee. Um I I want to associate myself with comments that were made earlier by uh our chairman, Mr. Smith, that uh AGOA is a is very important to us. We want you to work with us in in renewing it.
▶ 2:56:33Um we should um um this is uh something that is a uh ask and I just want to associate myself with with that. I also want to say that I'm from Wisconsin, sir, and even though I represent Milwaukee and the surrounding urban areas, um I am feeling the impacts and in lots of conversations about our farmers, our soybean farmers who have seen
▶ 2:57:03their markets destroyed uh with USID uh being shut down and the markets in in China closing down. And I understand that we're probably going to be looking at some trade adjustment assistance for them for farmers, but um farmers don't want these welfare checks. It's not well and it's not fair. They want their markets back. And I think this gives I want you to think about this.
▶ 2:57:31I think it gives uh China a lot of leverage over us. Uh I'm really concerned. You said here it today that you were not a free trade person, and I don't know that I am either, but I'm a fair trade person, which I think is where all of us ought to be. Um, and it seems to me that the president, and you support him as the trade representative, want to impose these tariffs with the hope that it's going to bring manufacturing jobs back.
▶ 2:58:02Um, number one, I haven't seen any industrial policy from the White House that would support that. All I see is trade, these tariffs and threats. I have absolutely I no idea where you're getting the numbers from because we factories are continuing to shed workers. We lost 98,000 manufacturing jobs just during the first year of the president's second term.
▶ 2:58:30So, uh, I the question I have are, you know, with this strategy, we're going to see a devaluation of the dollar, which of course will continue to raise prices for Americans to Um, are you deliberately trying to devalue the dollar?
▶ 2:58:49Uh, no. No. That's an interesting
▶ 2:58:52But that's what's going to happen. Well, I I I think well, listen, first of all, you know, the value of the dollar or it's weaker or strong, it's relative to other currencies in other countries. So, there are also, you know, if you export overseas and the the dollar is lower relative to that, you can actually export more effectively. And we're exporting more than you've exported American history. On the trade policy issue, uh, Congresswoman, I agree with you on on fair trade and focusing on manufacturing. On January 20th, we put out a trade policy that was focused on manufacturing.
▶ 2:59:22And I think I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I think you might agree with me that some of our trade policies in the past actually led to offshoring to Mexico or China or places like that. And so if there was a bad trade policy that could lead to offshoring, good trade policy can lead to to onoring.
▶ 2:59:37Well, you know, I appreciate your sentiments, but like I said, there's no industrial policy to enable manufacturers to stand up uh where we've been in the 70s or or 80s. Um you you you spoke a little bit about um uh we talked about depreciating the dollar um and we you constantly talk about our trade deficit account but you talked about our exporting to Europe.
▶ 3:00:07Don't we run a surplus in the capital and financial accounts? you know, the the IMF has put together a balance of payments. And so, it's kind of disingenuous to just call this a trade deficit when you consider the balance of payments. Am I wrong about that?
▶ 3:00:23I think you are. I I I think that, you know, you can find some economists from a KO super libertarians who want to go with you on that. I'm not in that camp. Uh I'm more concerned in looking at the trade deficit in goods where we're at 1.2 trillion in the whole following Biden years. I'm looking at our net investment position where foreign countries have higher claims on US assets than Americans have on claim on foreign assets. That's a dangerous position to be in. Um so there are sub accounts you can look at. Um I'm happy to have more conversation with you on this. I think we're probably more
▶ 3:00:51you know, because I I went with the chairman to Madagascar and we have an awful trade deficit with Madagascar, but I look around at all those poor people and I think well duh. you know, they sell us vanilla, but we have a trade deficit. And so I I I have we would have a broader conversation. I'd appreciate that because I think that the this trade policy of this administration is going to continue to raise prices for Americans.
▶ 3:01:19We're sewing into a dream of Um, and I uh I fear that it's just going to uh put us in a situation where we're not able to pay workers more, where we're hoping and praying for uh an event that may not occur. But I appreciate your patience and your indulgence. Thank you, Mr. Smucker. I yield back.
▶ 3:01:44Thank you. Now, we would like to recognize Mr. Lood for five minutes.
▶ 3:01:47Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, Ambassador Greer, welcome. Thank you for your service uh at USR and for being here Um, as you may know, Ambassador Greer, my district that I'm fortunate enough to represent, the 16th congressional district, is the 10th largest agriculture district in the country, uh, in terms of corn and soybean production. Uh, Illinois for the last 12 years has led the nation in soybean production. Um, and we're second in corn production.
▶ 3:02:15And I I wanted to just um let you know that uh roughly three weeks ago uh I had a meeting of my a advisory committee which is made up of about 40 farmers. And I just want to stress the um the anxiety and the uncertainness in the a community right now.
▶ 3:02:35um where prices are at um where diesel has gone fertilizer and about 40% of the corn and soybeans grown in my district and the state of Illinois goes somewhere else around the world. markets and customers are important uh to our agriculture industry and uh they're they're suffering now and they're concerned about the direction uh that we're going.
▶ 3:02:59And I would also add um the soybean uh production in the state of Illinois supports thousands of jobs and has generated roughly 7 billion dollars in economic output uh for the state of Illinois. Um, and I I wanted to just there's an article by the Associated Press, April 13, 2026 that said when when China puts tariffs on the US, uh, China tends to buy their soybeans from Brazil and Argentina and particularly Brazil.
▶ 3:03:29And in that article, they talk about we're not nearly as dominant in the world as we used to be in terms of a global export market of soybeans right now. And I guess I'm looking for um some optimism uh for my farmers uh and a sense that we're headed in the right direction from a trade policy on corn and soybeans and opening up more markets and customers uh because we've heard a lot about that, but I
▶ 3:03:59don't think my farmers have seen enough positive action or um results moving forward.
▶ 3:04:07Uh thanks. And we With respect to the trade policy, agriculture is a big part of it. Uh, anytime we do a deal with a country, we say there has to be an a element. With respect to soybeans, uh, we've obtained commitments for tariff elimination or reduction for soybeans or soybean meal. That's in Argentina, in Cambodia, in Ecuador, in Bangladesh, in Indonesia, and Taiwan. In addition to that, we have actual purchase commitments from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand. I had Mauritius in my office, small Mauritius.
▶ 3:04:37they had their first shipment of American soybeans in in a really long time. Uh so we're seeing uh diverse economies now coming large and small opening up wanting to get their trade deficit down and looking to do it through soybeans with corn corn exports went up by double digits last year. So when it comes to trade uh you know we are trying really hard to do our part uh and I know that USDA our our friends at USDA have been going around the world.
▶ 3:05:00all those countries I listed off, they follow up the deal with a trip from the under secretary or others to go link together uh buyers and sellers in that market. I have a I have a guy in Singapore who's a soybean trader over there and I have him on my WhatsApp. He just keeps me updated on what's happening. Uh so I'm happy to to match up, you know, particularly the USDA who does export promotion who can link up our farmers to these new buyers in these diverse countries.
▶ 3:05:26And I think there's also collective concern about what happens with USMCA as it relates to As you know, our a economy has been um has really benefited from USMCA, particularly our corn um exports to Mexico. Um and that relationship has continued to grow.
▶ 3:05:45Um, and you may have addressed this earlier, ambassador, but as we look at USMCA renewal and where we're headed on that, um, what confidence again can you give to our farmers that that agreement is going to stay intact and those markets are going to stay vibrant?
▶ 3:06:00Well, all of all of the deals that President Trump has made with any country, they have required the other countries to open their markets. Uh, you know, Mexico right now is mostly an open market for agriculture. there are non-tariff barriers that we need to make sure that they either get rid of or don't adopt. We know on corn, they've been an issue and so they they know they they can't move on changing our market access for corn right now. Uh so our our goal with all of this is to make sure that we maintain market access into these countries.
▶ 3:06:28We do need to take actions to protect manufacturing. We have a huge nearly $200 billion trade deficit with Mexico. That doesn't make sense. Uh so we need to make sure we control that. But part of that is making sure we can export and continue to export to Mexico to balance out that
▶ 3:06:42And maybe last question, what's the next step in the process for renewal in the
▶ 3:06:48So, uh, on July 1st, the each party to the agreement has to indicate whether they're going to do a renewal or whether they need to enter into a longer process of of renegotiation and then if renegotiation is unsuccessful, you eventually exit. I don't I don't think we're in a position to rubber stamp the deal. We now have six years of data and we see problems. We also see good areas. because we think a is a great place. Uh so we want to maintain that but we do have other areas we need to fix.
▶ 3:07:12Thank you Mr. Ambassador.
▶ 3:07:14Thank you. I now recognize Mr. Kustoff for five minutes.
▶ 3:07:17Thank you Mr. Chairman and thank you Ambassador for appearing today. I do want to thank the Trump administration and your office for your commitment to uh work on onshoring manufacturing. I think at least in my district and in Tennessee that commitment is shared by manufacturers all across my state and obviously we want to make sure that the policy does achieve its goals.
▶ 3:07:46If I could though, many of the companies did this when the administration asked. They they left China. They invested in US plants. They built integrated North American supply chains across USMCA. Obviously, when they did that, those were long-term capital inensive We do know that they rely on inputs. They rely on machinery.
▶ 3:08:15that rely on components and raw materials that may not be and likely are not produced in the United States and maybe in many cases can't be. So we thank the administration when you removed agricultural products that cannot be grown here from the tariff Is there any type of remedy or solution that you can think of for these manufacturers that have brought
▶ 3:08:45manufacturing back to the US but they're they're dependent on inputs with no domestic supplier.
▶ 3:08:55So uh the automotive industry there's a the trade program is under section 232 and that's at the commerce department. Um but I can just give a little bit of color on that. One thing the Commerce Department has done, uh, one, they've protected the American auto industry by putting a 25% tariff on autos, just like the 25% tariffs we've had on pickup trucks for like 50 years.
▶ 3:09:17So now that matches uh, but at the same time, there has been some provision for bringing in parts, uh, parts that are compliant with USMCA rules, having some kind of an offset, and also accounting for US content.
▶ 3:09:29So in North America there have been accommodations made by the commerce department to account for that integrated supply chain particularly uh where uh it's it's relative to US So if you were me and you were trying to communicate to uh Tennessee manufacturers who who have onshore and brought back manufacturing to the to the US and into Tennessee. What could I tell them about certainty as it relates to tariffs?
▶ 3:10:00Well, you know, the one thing that President Trump always says, if you build in America, you don't you don't pay a tariff on what you build in America because that's the most certain. The American consumer is a strong consumer. So, this is why everyone wants access to our market. Um, and and most of our economy is not trade dependent. About 20 25% is. Um, so that that's number one.
▶ 3:10:18Uh, number two, at the Commerce Department where they have tariffs on things like metals and autos, um you know there are some things that you know there's been some accommodation if there's US content they account for that uh etc. I would also recommend that they speak with the commerce department and engage with them at you know stakeholder level to let them know where there are concerns.
▶ 3:10:38There was a recent adjustment that the commerce department did on steel and aluminum uh to make compliance much easier for that program and also to uh make sure that it was only really focused on the most steel intensive products and other products were uh subject to a different tariff
▶ 3:10:53Thank you ambassador. If I could talk to you about uh PET manufacturing, there's evidence that in the section 301 record that foreign pet uh plastic producers are benefiting from subsidies, cheap input, forced labor while lacking real domestic demand. And I asked that because it's harming us producers of both virgin and recycled PET.
▶ 3:11:23Given that PET has been identified as affected by excess capacity, are there any remedies that you that are in your toolbox that that uh that could address excess industrial capacity while protecting our industries and our
▶ 3:11:42Uh yes. So I'm conduct my office is conducting a section 301 investigation of excess capacity. And so we would welcome comments from the affected industries in the US in that it's a public process. It's very transparent. And so we'd welcome their comment. It's ongoing. So I don't want to prejudge anything. Uh but I can tell you that our office will take into account whatever comments are made to take appropriate actions necessary under the trade laws of the United States.
▶ 3:12:06Thank you, Ambassador. Mr. Chairman, I'll yield back my time. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 3:12:10Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. And ambassador, thank you for once again coming to be with us and thank you for your thoughtful answers. I do wish maybe our staffs could get together and agree on the statistics ahead of time. Um I get confused when I hear you say these things. I Let me give you the data that I have and and I get these things from the Wall Street Journal and the US Chamber of Commerce. The loss of 88,000 manufacturing jobs last year, the loss of 500,000 bluecollar jobs last year.
▶ 3:12:40Net job growth December, January, February together, net zero jobs. Um, I try to talk to each of my chambers of commerce every year and those are largely Republican small business people and the topic has come back to trade first and foremost every time the way it's hurting their small businesses. And then I spoke to the realtors this morning in Virginia.
▶ 3:13:01Uh, National Association of Homebuilders, again, a pretty pretty Republican organization, has pointed out that the tariffs on steel, lumber, aluminum, and tile have created an $11,000 increase in the cost of building a new home. Now, that's a that's a significant part of it. But let me see, you speak eloquently about the Constitution, calling it our most important trade agreement. And you've praised the founding fathers for designing it with the separation of powers.
▶ 3:13:27And I know you're very familiar with article 1 section 8 of the constitution where founders gave congress not the president the ultimate authority over trade policy and taxation. And we did this with the basic knowledge of the nation's early history when they wanted to give the power to tax the American people through their elected representatives and not hand it all over to a mad king. And we're relearning the importance of this decision every single day of this presidency.
▶ 3:13:51Last year in front of this committee, ambassador, you defended the president's decision to declare a national emergency over the long-standing trade deficit and over a non-existent crisis of fentanyl coming in from Canada to impose tariffs on most of the globe. We argued to you then that these tariffs were obviously illegal and then the Supreme Court agreed, forcing the government to now refund billions in unlawful taxes.
▶ 3:14:13In response, the government unearthed an arcane halfcentury old law, declared that we are facing a balance of payments crisis, and is imposing another round of likely illegal taxes on the American people. And on top of that, you're twisting the intent of two other trade authorities beyond all recognition to cobble together flimsy justications for even more tariffs tariffs. Look, you and the president argue these tariffs are an incredible and popular policy tool to lead all sorts of positive outcomes for the American people.
▶ 3:14:41If that's true, why not just codify them? Let them sail through this chamber. We have a trifecta. You have control of the House, the Senate, the Presidency. Um why not put them before us? I'll be happy to vote on them.
▶ 3:14:54But would you vote for them?
▶ 3:14:56Probably not.
▶ 3:14:57I I think I think
▶ 3:14:58but but I'd love to see them. Sure. So please, so, so Congressman, we spent 40 or 50 years offshoring manufacturing and we are opposed to that and a lot of it had to do with bad trade policy. When China entered the WTO in the year 2000 2001 following that, we lost millions of manufacturing jobs. We lost tens of thousands of factories and had a really big negative impact. We now had and talk about NAFTA.
▶ 3:15:23We have a recent study from Harvard, you know, no no fan of they're not a fan of me or my administration, Trump administration. They said that there's a net negative health outcome of NAFTA due to the last loss of these jobs. So there's a real problem here. And so if bad trade policy offshored, we think that better trade policy can bring it back on shore. And so we're seeing it happen right now. It's hard to do it in one year after 50 years of offshoring. Um but we are seeing, you know, you talked about manufacturing jobs.
▶ 3:15:49The last two year of the Biden years, we lost 2 thou 230,000 manufacturing jobs. It's terrible. this last quarter, the first quarter of 2026, there's a net positive increase in manufacturing jobs. I think you should think that's positive. I think that's positive. So, we've seen the trend stabilize and go up. Um, we have to take the time we need to re-industrialize. It's really important for our national security. Uh, you know, we saw what happened in the pandemic. You couldn't get chips to put in the cars that are being sold on your lots. That's a that's a big issue.
▶ 3:16:17So we have to re-industrialize and we have to get rid of the old trade policy that was benefiting foreign workers and products and try to prioritize domestic
▶ 3:16:26Let me also point out that um there there was an increase in manufacturing output um last year which is the shift to technology and we we see that that can come back but I think we have to be very careful about what how many jobs we think we actually create. Um, I'd love to see them come back, but also need to be aware of what those jobs are actually going to look like.
▶ 3:16:47I I agree with you and we've been watching that manufacturing productivity went up. Um, I was in Michigan and Ohio and I saw that a lot of these companies who are expanding production, they're using AI to leverage the workers, not really to replace them, but to make them more productive. So, I think we're going to see less giant swings in in jobs, but I think we'll see less churn in jobs. And I think we'll see uh AI and other technologies, industrial robotics, uh manu, you know, maximizing productivity.
▶ 3:17:15Thank you. And I yield back, Mr.
▶ 3:17:17Mr. Fitzpatrick.
▶ 3:17:18Thank you, Chairman Smith. Ambassador Greer, thank you for your time today, sir. And thank you for working with us to achieve balanced trade and enhancing our nation's economic security. Stabilizing imbalances with our trading partners should be a priority for everyone on this committee uh in order to strengthen America's critical industries and our nation's uh industrial base.
▶ 3:17:38And our priority is to ensure that any long-term economic gains which the American people and workers could achieve in a more balanced trade environment are not undermined by our economic competitors and their unfair trading practices. It is essential that this Congress and the administration work together to maximize the benefits and limit the costs of our nation's trade policy. We must deliver greater certainty and economic stability for American consumers, American workers, and American families.
▶ 3:18:06And specifically, trade policies should prioritize strengthening relationships with our allies rather than increasing reliance on our adversaries. On March 26, the European Parliament voted to advance the US EU agreement on the reciprocal fair and balanced trade originally agreed to last July. And I welcome efforts to strengthen our economic relationship uh with these key allies like the European Union.
▶ 3:18:31Um Ambassador Greer, how do you see uh that agreement um contributing to improve market access for American producers? And how do you feel we can build on this development to strengthen our relationship? um with our strategic allies to counter our adversaries.
▶ 3:18:48Well, remember for for eight years under the Obama administration, there was an effort in the Trans-Pacific Partnership to open EU to more market access and that effort failed. Um we we approached the EU and we said if you want to have market access in the US and you want to have this giant trade surplus with the US and the EU is the largest source of our trade surplus now, you need to make sure you give us effective market access.
▶ 3:19:11And so in that bill that recently made it out of European Parliament, the Europeans agreed to go to 0% on all our industrial exports and to provide uh a lot of tariff rate quotas, duty-free tariff rate quotas for important uh US agricultural exports and importantly to address a lot of non-tariff barriers. It's not easy for the European Union to address these things. We're going to hold their feet to the fire. We want to have a mutually beneficial agreement with them. So we'll keep working at it to realize these
▶ 3:19:39Thank you. Moving on to the USMCA, which represents uh nearly $2 trillion in US goods and services uh in the region uh and has been influential in modernizing uh our trade with these partners. Uh recognizing that the joint review will need to be completed uh by this coming July 2026. Uh can you expand on any details of the review that you are particularly focused on as we approach that deadline?
▶ 3:20:03Thank you. I I have a team in Mexico this week. I just came back myself and as an initial matter we are addressing with Mexico topics like rules of origin and economic security and supply chain resilience. Uh this is kind of trade jargon, but what it means is we if if if Mexico and the US are going to have a close trade relationship, we need to make sure that the goods are actually from the US and Mexico and not some third country using Mexico as an export hub to get into the the US
▶ 3:20:33uh without any obligations of the agreement. Uh we want to make sure that we're reshoring things like electronics and pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, etc. and that if Mexico is going to have a trade relationship with us, it needs to be in support of those goals.
▶ 3:20:47And specific to uh to autos, which have been, you know, greatly rebalanced, um will USMCA economic security discussions include ways to address uh subsidized Chinese autos? Uh and if Canada is brought back into discussions, will the US ask them to change their tariff rate quota uh for Chinese EVs?
▶ 3:21:08Well, I I think that if the if the Mexicans and the Canadians want to have preferential access into the US market, they need to make sure that they're controlling their own economic borders. Uh and that includes with respect to subsidized uh autos coming from China or anywhere else uh for that matter. Uh so we are we are focused on this. Uh each of these countries have their sovereignty and they can decide what they want to do. Mexico has already independently taken steps to raise tariffs on various items from uh Vietnam and China.
▶ 3:21:36We think that's a meaningful step and we look forward to their further alignment with us.
▶ 3:21:41Thank you, Ambassador. I yield back, Mr.
▶ 3:21:43The gentleman yields. I now res recognize Mr. Stwie.
▶ 3:21:47Thank you, Madam Chair. Ambassador Greer, thank you for your testimony. Uh, under President Trump, our economy continues to flourish and recover following the disastrous policies of the Biden administration. We must remain steadfast in advancing President Trump's trade agenda and continue to support the administration and its work upholding the security and prosperity of our nation and the American people above all else.
▶ 3:22:08Looking ahead, Congress must continue emboldening the work of the administration, putting America first, and unapologetically provide any and all authorities that are necessary to protect the American economy from unfair trade practices. We must uphold the sovereignty, resilience, and security of the industries that allow our economy to prosper. This means utilizing all the tools at our disposal so that American industries can compete against our adversaries that seek to dismantle the economic security of our country.
▶ 3:22:34It's this forward-looking approach that the Trump administration advances in every negotiation and enforcement action to ensure that the strength of our economy is not only restored but sustained for generations to come. First, I'd like to talk about specialty crops uh especially in the state that I represent in Florida.
▶ 3:22:51Many agriculture producers uh in the great state of Florida have been undercut and lost market access due to the sudden surges of Mexican specialty crop imports during peak harvest Are current anti-dumping and counterveailing duty tools sufficient to provide effective relief for American specialty crop producers?
▶ 3:23:10I think the current trade remedies you're talking about, they can be challenging. Um I think there might be a case pending right now. Uh, but I've seen them attempted to be used before and sometimes it's challenging to to get the best data because a lot of our farmers are small farmers and they can't always, you know, represent themselves very effectively in Washington. You know, when I'm speaking with the Mexicans and I've already raised this with them, I want to control for this issue.
▶ 3:23:34You know, it's it's one thing to get imports of fruits and vegetables, you know, in, you know, January and February and December and things like that. It's a totally different thing to get the big surges you're talking about during the shoulder seasons for growing and sales. uh so we can certainly through USMCA discussions try to control this and find a solution. I think trade remedies could be improved to account for the issue as well.
▶ 3:23:55So in up upcoming USMCA negotiations, specialy crops will be something that you guys will be focused on to ensure that our American producers are being treated fairly.
▶ 3:24:05Yes. And I've I've already raised it with my counterpart.
▶ 3:24:08Thank you. Um quickly talk about sugar. Uh section 301 gives USR the authority to counteract the foreign structural excess capacity caused by the foreign policies identified by USR and the new national trade estimate report by raising tariffs in situations like this. Are you willing to use section 301 to effectively secure US interest in maintaining a domestic sugar industry and avoid the economic crisis that is currently impacting the US sugar
▶ 3:24:34Well, I I've spoken with US sugar stakeholders. I know this is an important industry. I know they feel under pressure. Um, and so I I I'd like to have a conversation with them about what kind of tools we have available. Um, because we want to we want to maintain our industry. Uh, we have a broader industry that uses sugar as an input and we need to, you know, be able to account for that as well. Um, but we have to maintain a domestic industry and I'm happy to look at possible tools to help protect it.
▶ 3:25:01Okay. Last week, Secretary of A Rollins said in budget hearings before the House Committee on Agriculture that unfair imports are crushing American farmers. That sugar is one of those sectors that is a priority for the administration that she's committed to working with you to protect American farmers. Are you committed to working with Secretary Rollins and the president to use section 03 to address this problem?
▶ 3:25:21So, I talked to Secretary Rollins almost daily basis. We've talked about this this issue and again we're we're looking at different authorities that that could be used.
▶ 3:25:30Uh trade policy should reflect not only economic interests but also national security and ideological alignment. Strengthening relationships with allies who share American values is essential to reducing reliance on adversarial nations. Uh, how can we ensure that our trade policies prioritize and strengthen our relationships with strategic allies who share American values and are willing to join us in enacting common policies to counteract adversaries?
▶ 3:25:56Well, I I think that we need to make sure that um our our trade is is optimized for both of these things. You talked about our, you know, economic well-being and our national security. So when you look at the president's trade program, you look at the Western Hemisphere, they're kind of in the best situation when it comes to tariffs we've imposed on them and their access to this market. We have trade surpluses with a lot of those countries.
▶ 3:26:20You know, as you get closer to, you know, places like China and and and you know, Vietnam elsewhere, um you know, it's not really about do we like them or not, but they they do pose a challenge economically. You know, China China is its own special threat, and so tariffs naturally are higher on those countries. So I think that we've built the trade policy in a way that you know the closer you get to America from a you know geoeconomic geopolitical position the better you off you are. The closer you get to the other end of the spectrum you know the higher higher tariff is going to be.
▶ 3:26:49Thank you for your time. I yield back.
▶ 3:26:54Gentleman yields. I now recognize Mr. Schneider from Illinois.
▶ 3:26:57Uh thank you uh thank you Madam Chairman and thank you Ambassador Greer for for being here today. Uh first I want to associate myself with the earlier remarks of my colleague Darren Le Hood uh also from Illinois in support of our corn and soy farmers in USMCA. Our districts border each other in Northern Illinois and I can tell you I'm hearing the same thing from our farmers that he heard from his. Uh looking at trade more broadly, a lot's changed since you were here last.
▶ 3:27:23Um President Trump with your help has put new tariffs on many of our allies, removed some of those tariffs and then reimposed other tariffs. Uh you've also started dozens of 232 and 301 investigations into products and then cut deals with countries before those in investigations have even concluded. But most importantly, since your last visit, the Supreme Court ruled that the AIPA tariffs were illegal and subsequently ruled it was ruled that the illegal tariffs collected must be refunded.
▶ 3:27:53these division decisions were the right decisions and I'm proud that the lead pliff in the AIPA case was my constituent learning resources inc. Um but let me raise a concern that others have also brought up today. Tariffs have a place when used thoughtfully and when the process is transparent. Unfortunately, too often that's not been the case with this administration.
▶ 3:28:15Throughout this administration, we have seen a perverse pattern of corruption, backdoor deals, random exclusions to companies that donate to the president, other companies, and waiting endlessly for answers uh to their questions or requests for exclusions. Transparency in our trade policy matters. The details of the MFN deals that you have finalized behind closed doors with some of the largest prescription companies matter.
▶ 3:28:42How can we evaluate the effectiveness of these arguments and ensure both sides are enforcing the terms when we aren't able to see the actual text of the agreements when we don't know the details and don't know if they're being followed? How can we be sure that companies aren't cutting deals with the administration and also working with China to develop the next generation of medical miracles? My district's home to companies that are developing some of the most cuttingedge medical technologies in this country.
▶ 3:29:09cures for the future, treatments that will change lives. These innovations must stay here in the United States. And I'm concerned that your MFN deals along with this administration's trade agenda will end up hurting the United States in the long term and drive innovation away from our shores and in particular towards China.
▶ 3:29:31So on these deals, uh, Ambassador Greer, the administration has highlighted the need to address unfair trade p practices that disadvantage US innovators and ultimately shift a disproportionate share of global pharmaceutical R&D costs onto American patients. Can you share with this committee how the MFL MFN deals you have designed will address this in specifics and are you willing to share the details of those deals, the text of those deals uh, with Congress and the American
▶ 3:29:56So let me kind of disagregate some of that. So I think you're talking about some MFN deals with the Commerce Department and HHS where companies have finally agreed to reduce the prices for pharmaceuticals. We're finally seeing them decrease and they're also building here in the United States. These are good outcomes. So so we want those. Then I have agreements on reciprocal trade that are totally public. Uh you know we provide you know drafts in advance to the staff and and members of the committee and they commit people to IP commitments.
▶ 3:30:23Uh and then we have a recent agreement on pharmaceutical pricing with the UK which is public and can be seen. Uh so I mean if you have any specific concerns about some of these you know on the MFN ones I can refer you to HHS and the commerce department but I think what we're seeing the outcomes pharmaceutical companies actually reducing their prices for specific drugs Americans need. That's a good thing we should be
▶ 3:30:41and let's agree bringing down the prices of drugs is a good thing and it's something I think we can work together on. But transparency is crucial on this so that the American people understand that that these are over thetable agreements, not under the table uh agreements that leave people um carrying the bag as as we've seen too often.
▶ 3:31:00Uh shifting to the the tariff refund, uh can you explain how um you plan to work with CBP to ensure the refunds are given back to the companies in full without favoring one company over another if it's based on relationships with the administration or otherwise that those who paid tariffs will get the refunds that they're owed.
▶ 3:31:18There there's just an online portal. I think the acronym is CAPES. Um and CBP runs it, career staff are running it, and you put in your information and if it all matches up and you're do your refund u they'll do it. They're doing it in tranches pursuant to court order. All
▶ 3:31:31right. Thank you. And uh with respect to USMCA, you've shared with this committee your openness to changing uh the agreement from a trilateral to a uh two bilateral sets of agreements. I know you were recently in Mexico. Did your part counterpart there say they would be better off without USMCA or or are they seeking to uh continue USMCA? As you know, we we believe it is something that's important to continue uh with appropriate adjustments.
▶ 3:31:57Well, the the Mexicans agree with us that there are things that can be changed in USMCA, particularly to have more production in North America, and they're open to having a bilateral protocol uh that that improves and adjusts some of the things in USMCA. I think there are a lot of loadbearing pillars in USMCA that maybe we don't have to touch, but there are things we have to fix, and the Mexicans are open to doing that bilaterally.
▶ 3:32:20Great. I'm out of time, but I'll close on one last thought that I think we can all agree on. We are stronger. The world's better when the United States invents things here, makes things here, and ships them around the world. And fair trade, uh, is critical to that. And I think that's something we can all work together on. I yield back. Gentleman yields. Uh, I re I recognize myself now for five minutes. I just want to say thank you so much, Ambassador Greer, for for being here and being so responsive to me and my staff.
▶ 3:32:46And as you know, um, the top trade issue in my district in northern New York, New York 24, is the relationship between the US and Canada, from tourism to agricultural markets, uh, commodities to wine and manufactured goods. It's a huge issue, and Canada is a top market for my district. However, uh, Canada has long discriminated against certain industries in my district, and that is what I want to focus on today. I got a couple quick things, but um, let's start with dairy. And we've talked about this before.
▶ 3:33:15As you recall, probably my district is the fifth largest dairy producing district in the entire United States. Uh for years, Canada has rigged their system to prevent US dairy producers from fair access to Canada's markets. This year's national trade estimate report, as as every year's report uh details, Canada's market manipulation and unfair treatment of US producers is still evident.
▶ 3:33:39Uh the US has fought for years to gain access to the Canadian dairy market and yet Canada continues to violate USMCA and the spirit of its dairy commitments. Uh have you and your team raised these issues with our Canadian counterparts thus far and have they been constructive in helping all of us resolve this issue with our our friend to the north? Uh we have raised it repeatedly and frequently uh over the past year.
▶ 3:34:04Um, our Canadian counterparts have indicated as a general matter, they're happy to talk to us about adjustments to USMCA and different things like that, but they have made no commitments on this front at this time.
▶ 3:34:15Well, that that's disappointing. So, let's shift to wine. Another issue uh detailed in the national trade estimate. Uh, every Canadian province with the exception of Alberta and Saskatchewan has ceased distribution of US wine and liquor products including Ontario to the north. uh this is uh distorting the market causing immense harm to our wine producers uh in the district and he have you and your team raised uh this issue as well with our Canadian counterparts and have they been trying to help us?
▶ 3:34:44Have they been constructive in this issue much like uh with the dairy issue?
▶ 3:34:48Well, it's it's at the provincial level, right? So, we hear from the federal government of Canada, well, it's the provinces and we do have two provinces who who don't have this. Uh that being said, I I think we're kind of at the end of our rope and in just asking for them to do this. Think about this way. There are two countries that have retaliated economically against United States in the past year. The People's Republic of China and Canada. So that's kind of the the company that they're running in. So my sense is there may have to be an enforcement action to deal with this uh issue on wine and spirits in Canada.
▶ 3:35:16Thank you for that. I let's hope we can resolve that. Um, and one last issue I would I'd like to discuss with uh is the Canadian prohibition on bulk imports of fresh fruit and produce. My district is the 19th largest fruit producing district in the nation and the 21st largest vegetable producing district in the nation. Once again, as detailed in the NTE, Canada severely restricts imports of bulk fresh fruits and vegetables. Have you and your team raised this issue with our Canadian counterparts and where are they with this issue as well?
▶ 3:35:45Uh, we have. We thought this would be an easy one for them to fix. They've refused to fix it. It's in the National Trade Estimate. Has been for a long time. It's one of those crazy things when you hear that exists. People say, "Oh, well, Canada, they're our best friends." But then they do things like this where you can't ship fruit if it's in a package above a certain size. It doesn't even make economic sense. So, we've raised it with them. We'll continue to do it.
▶ 3:36:03Yeah. It's disappointing. I mean, I've spent my whole life going back and forth to Canada. I'm a a curler. Uh I also graduated from the Silver Boom Curling School. I showed my horse up in Cana in Canada and in uh Toronto. And you know, our Canadian counterparts have come to meet with us frequently. They talk about us. They want to talk about the tariffs. However, they don't appear willing to actually address this issue as you've described. And we really need to to really forge this relationship with our Canadian counterparts, Ambassador Greer.
▶ 3:36:31Um, is there any message you would like to give to our Canadian counterparts getting about getting them to the table? I've met with premers uh and met with uh you know the the parliamentarians from all across the region uh the northern northern Canada all the way from the north to the to the south to the east everywhere uh and west. What could would you like how do we get them to come to the table and bring back this relationship that is so important for our farmers or business owners?
▶ 3:36:57Everyone we you know we value the relationship with Canada especially someone like me who's grown up just you know an hour and a half or so from the Canadian border uh and really value their friendship but I also want to see them come to the table. I hate to see our great ally being aligned with the People's Republic of China when it comes to trade with the US.
▶ 3:37:14Uh well, a couple things and you know f first of all I don't you know I don't negotiate in public right not going to go into too much detail but you know the second point I'll make is you know I have good relationships with my direct counterparts and and we we speak uh you know we talk about things I have been pretty consistent over the past year that if we can um you know get some changes in Canadian trade practices uh you know it's going to help me get over the political hump that we face here in the United States. So, I think there are things that can be done.
▶ 3:37:44I've been pretty clear with the Canadians on a variety of things. Anyone can read the National Trade Estimate to have a sense of the kind of things I've asked them to work on. Um, so, you know, I'm going to continue having conversations with these folks behind closed doors, but I hope we can get over the hump on some of these things to have significant talks.
▶ 3:38:01Thank you. I yield. I I really appreciate your effort on these and let's hope we can come come to a great I love US Canada Day uh with our countries coming together. Uh, I now uh recognize Mrs. Fishbach from Minnesota.
▶ 3:38:20It's so far away that it's hard to read. But, uh, thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Ambassador Greer, for being here. I appreciate the opportunity to, um, just ask a couple of questions, but I do, uh, first of all, I want to add my voice to, um, the concerns that Mr. Stwie raised regarding the sugar issue. um and uh and the imports.
▶ 3:38:40And as a matter of fact, uh Neil Roststead, a sugar beat grower from my district, testified last year at the uh Brazil 301 investigation um about what's what's causing the issues. And so I just uh anything that we can do to deal with that issue, they they are they are being devastated by the unfettered imports of sugar.
▶ 3:39:03So, but um as USR and the Ways and Means Committee prepare for USMCA because that is also I'm from Minnesota, so that's a a big issue for me. Uh the reauthorization, the turkey industry is seeking parody in how the tariff rate quota, the TRQ's is calculated. Currently, the formula ties the US quota to can to Canada's fluctuating domestic production, resulting in unpredictable year-to-year volumes that create challenges for producers.
▶ 3:39:32um as you continue to engage with the agricultural stakeholders, can you commit to working on those TRQS uh regarding Turkey um ahead of the USMCA reauthorization?
▶ 3:39:42Uh we will and we had a public comment process. Uh so we've engaged with stakeholders on this
▶ 3:39:47and and I know you mentioned that you you don't negotiate in public, but I'm just kind of wondering where we're at on that if there's any what's going on with it, if there's anything you can comment on that. I I would just say in further to my conversation with uh Representative Tenny, you know, with the Canadians, we're in an earlier stage of conversations. We have a variety of issues that we think are not consistent with USMCA right now, and we'd like the Canadians to comply with those things right now.
▶ 3:40:14Uh it it's it's hard to move on to a broader conversation about how to improve the agreement when we don't feel like we have compliance with the initial one. But the the Turkey issue in the TRQ is, you know, when we get to that broader conversation, we're going to include that. I mean we we already have flagged it in in various uh you know fora but we can work on it in more detail once we get some progress.
▶ 3:40:34Okay. Because that is that is a one of my priorities for USMCA. Um but after President Trump and uh President Z negotiated a trade truce in October, China made some commitments regarding US soybeans. 12 million metric tonses for 2025 and 25 uh million metric tonses for this year and the next two years.
▶ 3:40:57While those numbers represent roughly average soybean sales to China according to our state orders, China has not begun to purchase any new so new new crop soybeans for its 2026 commitment. Um, have you spoken with your Chinese counterparts about their commitments and can you provide us an update on what's going on with that? Something we're
▶ 3:41:18Uh, we we do we're watching it very closely. This is one of the core commitments. Uh we have found in past years that China can be an unreliable purchaser. Uh some years they'll buy, some years they won't. Uh you know they'll use excuses. If we try to defend our markets, they'll turn off soybean purchases. Uh so it's a challenging situation for our farmers to be dependent on this market. So what we've done is we have these commitments, solid commitments, volume commitments that are, you know, fairly easy to measure. The Chinese have essentially filled the 12 million from the last sales season.
▶ 3:41:48And so now we're entering into the new season. Uh we'll raise it with them. We speak with our counterparts at the staff level and my level with some frequency and so we'll raise it to make sure that they fulfill that commitment.
▶ 3:42:01Not to put you on the spot, but what happens if they don't?
▶ 3:42:04Well, if they don't have it, remember essentially the terms of the deal is uh we agreed to you know at one point we had very very high tariffs on China. Now we just have high tariffs on China. So the president has tools like that and other things uh as an enforcement mechanism. The Chinese know this. um they want to have stability as much as we do. Uh and so we feel very strongly that they will uh deliver on this. The president's going to meet with President Xi in a few weeks uh to reinforce this.
▶ 3:42:30So we feel we feel confident and then if they don't, we'll take our actions that we need to, but I don't I don't think we need to. I think they're going to fulfill it.
▶ 3:42:37Thank you very much. And and I just want to reiterate, you know, USMCA and those trade deals are incredibly important to the folks in my district. um we have a heavy a district and so um I I appreciate you taking their concerns to the table with you. So thank you very much for being here and I yield back.
▶ 3:42:59Miss Del Benny.
▶ 3:43:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um Ambassador Greer, uh thank you for being here today. Appreciate it. Um every day I hear from constituents struggling to make ends meet. Um they tell me how groceries, gas, housing, health care, and other basic needs are becoming increasingly unaffordable. And um the president's trade policies have been fueling this affordability crisis. When the Supreme Court struck down the president's illegal tariffs, there was a glimmer of hope that families could breathe a little easier.
▶ 3:43:31But hours later, you and the president said you'd reinstate those tariffs through other means. Um, now you're running 76 simultaneous section 301 processes and you set July as your target end date. Um, I'm skeptical that USR can perform these many thorough factual reviews in just a few months and I know the USR statement from February 20th says that you will comply with the substantive and procedural requirements.
▶ 3:44:00Um, but it appears to me that you're just going through the motions of the 301 process when we all know how this story ends um with the reinstatement of tariffs that will continue to harm consumers and businesses in states like my home state of Washington. So, I had a few questions um about the process that's being run.
▶ 3:44:20Um, first, Mexico is a target of your investigations and under IPA and section 122 tariffs, goods that qualify under USMCA have been exempted. Um, do you commit to exempting USMCA goods in any section 301 actions taken under these two investigations?
▶ 3:44:42Uh, these are new investigations. I can't prejudge the outcome or commit or pre-commit to an outcome. So the whole point of the dispute settlement mechanism is to avoid unilateral tools like section 301. Um and so the tariff free treatment for qualifying goods in North America is kind of a cornerstone of our regionally integrated economy. And so I started with that question because I was hoping that was something that was we would be able to easily agree on.
▶ 3:45:09And I'm disappointed to hear that the administration is willing to, you know, go against a trade deal and raise costs on working families if we don't have agreement that that's at least going to be a cornerstone of it. Um, also section 301 requires that before tariffs can be put in place, you have to conduct re rigorous investigations. And yet when you announced the 301 investigations, you cited Bangladeshi cement as a justification.
▶ 3:45:36Yet Bangladesh hasn't exported cement to the United States since 2004. Um so how does that make sense as a
▶ 3:45:47So so for for each country in many countries we listed a number of manufacturing areas where they have excess capacity. Manufacturing moves in ecosystems and so when we start an investigation we have primaacia evidence. If we can see excess capacity in certain areas or we see a trade trade surplus with the US enough to start an investigation which we'll conduct and we'll do it rigorously using
▶ 3:46:07but this is data from 2004 that you're using to justify actions now um
▶ 3:46:12they currently have excess capacity in cement currently
▶ 3:46:16will um will USR perform a thorough country bycountry analysis under each of the section 301 investigations
▶ 3:46:24yes we're already conducting consultations with countries who desire pirate. We've offered it to all the countries. We've conducted comment processes already and we are taking our time. The career staff are doing this. We're very focused. I trust our career staff. They're incredible. They do a very good job and I'm very confident that they'll be thorough. Um and and my understanding is that for each section 301 investigation, the section 301 committee and the trade policy staff committee will each produce memos to justify their actions.
▶ 3:46:53Um, will you commit to publishing these decision memos so that they're public and we can see the results of these?
▶ 3:47:01I I'll have to assess with my general counsel. Some of these things are deliberative in nature and so aren't subject to some of those disclosure
▶ 3:47:08Does the law prevent you from releasing
▶ 3:47:11Uh, I'll have to look. I'll talk to my general counsel.
▶ 3:47:13Um, okay. I'm not aware of any authority that prevents you from releasing um those memos. And uh I think it's important for everyone to see the analysis uh to justify tariffs because it's been raising costs for families by thousands of dollars each year.
▶ 3:47:29Well, we will put out a report on our findings to be sure. We'll have a federal register notice and people can comment. We'll be quite transparent.
▶ 3:47:34Um and uh I know you think trade policy is working. I come from a trade dependent state, but if you think it's been a good idea, then um I think that one we should be coming to Congress. Um the proposal should come before this committee and um we should make sure that we are not continuing uh illegal taxation of my constituents and people across the country. Um thank you again for being here. I yield back, Mr.
▶ 3:48:00Miss Vanine.
▶ 3:48:03Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Ambassador Greer, for joining us today. I know it has been a long morning, and I appreciate your patience and your responses. Um, a clear demonstration of this administration's effective trade approach is how strong tariff policy has produced tangible results at our southern border. Uh, in response to tariff pressures, Mexico has surged thousands of national guard troops to their border.
▶ 3:48:27They have dramatically reduced illegal crossings to historic lows, achieved major seizures of fentanyl and precursor chemicals, and extradited dozens of high-v value cartel targets to face justice in the United States. Uh and just for example, for comparison, uh according to to Border Patrol data, average monthly southwest border apprehensions were 89.6% lower in the first year of the Trump 2.0 uh uh compared to the final year of the B Biden administration.
▶ 3:48:58Uh this success proves that firm reciprocal trade tools are powerful instruments for advancing not only economic interests but also critical national security priorities. We were down in Mexico a little over six weeks ago and had conversations with their elected officials and nearly all of them said that they were cooperating and working with us because of the threat of tariffs. I think that's an important thing to point out.
▶ 3:49:22Um this is in part why I introduced HR6991 was the fair trade act of 2026 and that was actually after a a round table with you when we discussed it and it would impose additional 15% tariffs on goods from countries from which the United States runs a trade deficit and a 10% uh on goods from countries where we run a surplus.
▶ 3:49:44I believe this bill perfectly complements USR's 2026 trade policy agenda by providing concrete leverage to secure better market access, stronger enforcement of our trade agreements and genuine reciprocity from our trading partners. I'd like to move on to some of the issues that are really important in Texas. Uh liqufied natural gas.
▶ 3:50:04Uh first, can you tell us how important the expansion of LG and investments in LG exports along the Gulf Coast, which represents, by the way, a 180 degree uh difference from the Biden administration, but especially in Texas, have been for improving our trade imbalance, stabilizing global markets, and supporting our sometimes allies in
▶ 3:50:25Uh yes, this is a this is an important way that we can help get our trade deficit down. Um this has been significant over the past year as we've gone country to country expressed our concern with the trade deficit. They've been very eager uh to increase imports from the United States. Agriculture, manufactured goods and energy products. And LG is really important right as you see a country like Russia is an unreliable supplier. Um and we have been able to fill gaps.
▶ 3:50:53Uh we have the Europeans have committed to buying more LG. Uh we have a lot of countries that have committed to this. So we're we're exporting it. It's it's really critical and it also obviously helps our overall prochemical industry.
▶ 3:51:05Well, the the president's tremendous success in Venezuela, you know, the the legacy media has largely ignored the entire topic of Venezuelan oil. But how important for the Western Hemisphere and our ability to deal with our adversaries like China is the Texas refining capacity of Venezuelan oil?
▶ 3:51:22Uh well, this is this is really significant. Um, and when it comes to, you know, trade in o in gas and oil, um, a lot of it depends on your downstream refining capacity. And so our our Texas facilities are, um, are optimized to process that crude coming in from Venezuela. So this is a great opportunity that the president has secured um, frankly that energy supply chain. I mean, Venezuela has some of the largest reserves on Earth.
▶ 3:51:48between US reserves, Venezuelan reserves, we have energy security for decades into the
▶ 3:51:54It's too bad nobody else is talking about it, but I appreciate you bringing that up. Um, switch to back back to Mexico. I know that you and I have had conversations and understand that it's bipartisan on this on this committee um for Vulcan materials and some of our other businesses and how they're being treated in Mexico. Can you just kind of give us an update u on the latest of this situation and do you see a path forward or a resolution? So the Mexican government has been in talks uh with Vulcan and we've tried to facilitate that.
▶ 3:52:21I was with the president of Mexico a couple days ago and I personally raised it uh you know with her with the trade commissioner and you know I don't want to you know go into details of those conversations. All I can say is uh the Mexicans know this is an issue that needs to be settled. um if if they want to have a constructive trade relationship with the US, you know, companies that go down there, whether they're extractive industry or infrastructure or something like that where we're, you know, providing services, you know, down there, they need to have comfort that they can get a return on their investment.
▶ 3:52:49Now, I don't really want manufacturers going down there and reexporting to the US. That's that's not what I want. But things like this where the resources are there in place uh to be extracted, they need to have fair treatment. I appreciate that and I hope that they know how these actions are going to affect negotiations for the USMCA. Appreciate very much. I yield back,
▶ 3:53:06Mr. Finstra.
▶ 3:53:08Thank you, Chairman Smith, and thank you, Ranking Member Neil, for holding this hearing today. Ambassador Greer, I just want to applaud you. I want to say thank you for what you're doing for the American farmer. Uh, I represent one of the largest egg districts in the country. uh when it comes to Iowa and my district, we lead in corn, soybeans, pork, eggs, bofuels, and there's a lot of trade that we've been doing in those capacities. When I talk to the farming community, you know, they don't want a handout.
▶ 3:53:37They just want open markets, and that's why this is so so important. Um I want to just talk a little bit about the pork producers. They're facing anti-dumping and counterveailing duties cases that are more political in nature than purely economic. You've just come back from Mexico where a lot of these issues are somewhat pre prevalent. Can you talk about what your office is doing to ensure US pork producers are not caught up in the crossfire of
▶ 3:54:04Uh yes, I as you mentioned, I just came back from Mexico. I raised the specific issue. Uh my sense is if and again there has been no retaliation thus far which is very important to to note. Um and I don't think we can have a deal with Mexico if we have retaliatory issues like that. I think the Mexicans understand that too.
▶ 3:54:22Yeah. Well, thank you. Thank you. And then uh our soybean producers, you know, China is so important and and they are steadily purchasing their commitments and I'm so grateful for that. Also, um, how do you the the USChina board of trade that's being set up and developing? How do you think the more permanent board of trade will help and ensure China sticks to the purchasing agreement and provides better access for our US producers? How do you see that playing out?
▶ 3:54:50Well, remember, you know, the Chinese economy is a command economy. Um, you know, they have something that passes as a private sector, but it's really beholden to the to the government and the party. In the US, we try to have as much of a free market economy, capitalist economy as we can. And so those economies don't fit together very well. So the board of trade is a mechanism, a government-to-government mechanism where we can engage on terms that are mutually acceptable with the Chinese. If they're going to have a managed economy, then they can manage importing from the US. Yes.
▶ 3:55:17Uh we can we can identify those goods that we really think are important for us to sell to them. And we can identify goods that we're willing to buy from them as well, mostly in non-sensitive sectors. There's a lot of non nonsensitive mutually beneficial trade we can do with the Chinese, but it has to be it has to have some predictability to it.
▶ 3:55:33Well, I'd love to open more markets there and continue to see them buy our goods. Uh, Ambassador Ger, uh, India remains probably one of the most restrictive markets when it comes to agriculture and I'm excited to see the progress that the two parties are working with a US uh, India trade agreement, trade framework framework. Uh when I look at my state, the country, you know, we do a lot with distiller grain called DDS, DDGS. We do a lot with soybean meal.
▶ 3:56:01Uh this could be a great opportunity for export markets uh and even ethanol into India. Uh can you talk about where we're at and what we can do to encourage uh India and in having more of our egg products uh being represented over there?
▶ 3:56:16Uh yes. So you'll know that we have a joint framework agreement with India uh that we signed that sets out the general terms of our agreement. The Indian trade negotiations negotiators are in town this week. Um so we've been talking this week about these issues including about these specific commodities. You talked about DDGS etc. India is a tough nut to crack. Uh you know they've protected their agricultural markets for a very long time as part of this deal. They're going to want to protect a lot of that still. There there are things though where I think we can find mutual agreement.
▶ 3:56:46You know, DDGS is a good example of this.
▶ 3:56:48Yep. Good. And then finally, I just want to talk about uh ethanol. Uh we have a great opportunity uh domestic fuel uh for the US and then abroad and we see more and more countries around the world using ethanol. Do you see any opportunity for other countries? We did a great job with UK and having US ethanol being exported there. Do you see other opportunities that we can uh export more ethanol to other countries like Asia and so forth?
▶ 3:57:16Uh sure. We we do have a variety of countries that have agreed to reduce their tariffs on ethanol uh for for US imports. You mentioned the UK agreement where we opened up you know a billion liter market. Um I am we have an we're talking to the Brazilians about this as well. The trade relationship is a little more fraught right now. Uh but we're talking to them about ethanol. I think there are things we can do mutually with the Brazilians to reopen that market. So, there's a lot going on, a lot we've achieved, but there's more to do.
▶ 3:57:44Yeah. Well, Ambassador Ger, thank you for answering my questions and thank you for all that you're doing for the egg industry and I continue to look at creating new markets for our farmers. Thank you so much.
▶ 3:57:54Mr. Bole,
▶ 3:57:57thank you uh Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Ambassador, for being here. Uh, I I'm sorry to say this, but in my opinion, the administration's trade agenda has been nothing short of disastrous. According to the Trumpapp appointed Republican Federal Reserve chair, it is this administration's reckless tariffs that have been the major driver of the rise of rise in inflation.
▶ 3:58:23These policies have raised prices, disrupted global trade, and made it harder for American businesses to plan and invest because the policies have been so erratic and unpredictable. Now, it is clear that Americans are experiencing an affordability crisis, but that crisis has two sides to it. The rising costs, as I just mentioned, but also the stagnant wages, the other side of the equation.
▶ 3:58:52Focusing on costs alone misses half the problem. Wages have stagnated for years, and workers who attempt to organize or bargain for better pay are often told to accept less or risk losing their livelihoods as companies threaten to offshore jobs. That pressure has both shuttered factories and held down wages even where jobs remain.
▶ 3:59:16Unfortunately, I know this firsthand, having fought unsuccessfully to oppose the offshoring of hundreds of Nabiscoco factory jobs in my own very district in Philadelphia. This was a factory that had been there for many decades.
▶ 3:59:30Now, those jobs are in Mexico where workers there earn pennies on the dollars that were being earned by American workers at that Nabiscoco workers still face this race to the bottom now more than ever.
▶ 3:59:48So, Ambassador, as we approach the USMCA review in just under two months, I wanted to know what you were doing specifically to finally stop the continued offshoring of these jobs and ensure workers finally see meaningful pay increases.
▶ 4:00:05Uh, thank you. I'm I'm glad you're concerned about this issue. Uh in advance of US um uh USMCA review, we've initiated section 301 investigations in Mexico and Canada both on forced labor issues as well as structural overcapacity with respect to Mexico. And in result, the US steel workers put out a statement welcoming USR investigations. The AM union backs the investigations. The UAW applauds us for doing this. AFL CIO lauded it.
▶ 4:00:32So, we're working hand inand with the with these unions to do this. Uh, you know, we think that tariffs are an important point to do this. We think when we took down our tariff barriers, uh, we had a lot of offshoring and now we want to reshore. And so, sometimes I get confused when people say we don't want tariffs, but we want to reshore. Um, it's we we have to we have to be coherent about this.
▶ 4:00:52Well, well, hold on. Tariffs.
▶ 4:00:54I reclaim my time because I only got two minutes here. So, um, to be clear, there are times that I have supported tariffs. However, there's a big difference between the tariffs that I have supported and the ones this administration has eradically put in place. The tariffs I've supported are industry specific and countryspecific. That's very different than the trade policy of this administration.
▶ 4:01:17But in the remaining time we have, if we can just shift on moving forward, what specific commitments this administration and you specifically are looking for in the review of USMCA, specifically with respect to Mexico. Uh so so first of all we would expect that any rules of origin be updated if we're going to have preferential trade with Mexico.
▶ 4:01:41Uh I cannot have a situation where China or Vietnam or other third countries are using Mexico as an export hub uh to undermine US workers and manufacturers. That's why the unions have been so supportive of what we're doing on tariffs. Uh so that's one thing. Uh I would say that another thing we want the Mexicans to follow their own labor laws. uh which was imposed on them uh or which which they passed in response to USMCA in the first term. We continue to take actions uh against Mexico where they are not following their own labor laws.
▶ 4:02:11So uh those are just a couple of things I think are responsive to some of
▶ 4:02:14our and just to be clear I mean USMCA which I voted for and frankly I think the vast majority of Congress on both sides of the aisle voted for. I did not think it was perfect. I think there are a number of things in it that need to be improved, but I thought overall USMCA was an improvement upon the deeply flawed NAFTA or NAFTA that it uh that it updated. I hope that as we go through this review, we can see even more improvements.
▶ 4:02:40Uh and I'll be happy to follow up specifically in a letter on some ideas that I have in ways that we could make it better and our trade policies fair for not just American consumers, but also American workers. With that, I yield back.
▶ 4:02:55Mr. Moore.
▶ 4:02:56Thank you, Chairman, Ambassador Greer. Great to see you again. Um, before I jump into some they're I think pretty pretty bas straightforward questions. Um, just for all the times we get a hearing like this or a few interactions, I I'll just say that like the ability to connect with your team, work with your team, uh, supersedes any of these simple things that we get to do today. So, thank you for that.
▶ 4:03:21The World Trade Center of Utah, as you know, is one of the most substantive organizations that's focused on all the right measures and trying to navigate always troubled waters with this topic for for for decades. Um, and they would feel the same to be able to have uh an ability to work with you all and it's um it's very much appreciated. So, thank you. I understand you just came back from Mexico City for bilateral discussions uh with Mexico within the context of USMCA.
▶ 4:03:48One of my biggest concerns has to do with the auto sector and the risk that we end up in a situation where we have kind of one set of rules for origin and content requirements for Mexico, another set for for Canada. And I can't help but think that this would make it harder for North America to maintain its competitive advantage against adversaries like China in the automotive production space. Um, and that it would discourage auto companies from creating jobs in the US.
▶ 4:04:12How are you working on your renegotiations with USMCA to include strong provisions on domestic content while also providing that level of consistency and predictability for all three markets?
▶ 4:04:23Yeah, thank you. I mean this is essentially a rules of origin question. Uh we want to manufacture in the United States, you know, have a North American supply chain and we want to make sure that that has um that that can compete against, you know, vehicles coming from Japan or Korea or Germany or anywhere else. Uh so we're in we're in conversation with the auto companies, the auto parts suppliers and frankly the unions on this. I think they they have a you know a sh a shared view. Um so we're happy to talk to them.
▶ 4:04:49There is some overlap with the commerce department section 232 uh which has the global auto tariff regime. So I I'll work with them uh to make sure that whatever rules of origin we have uh enhance competitiveness in North America and don't detract from it.
▶ 4:05:04Thank you. I I've um and this addresses a lot of other areas like we're in a unique spot that we probably haven't ever been before in our in our international relationships with some sincere adversaries like making sure that we have a strong North America. You US will lead in this um but we've got to be able to compete against um China in in multiple areas. This is this is one of them. So thanks for being that and making it sure it's a it's a strong focus for your team. Next topic is actually um the importance of a stable flow of pod ash.
▶ 4:05:35Uh United States and Utah is one of only three states in the country that actually produces pod ash specifically sulfate pod ash for premium crops like berries and fruit fruit. But this makes up a small overall percentage of the US pod ash consumption. 95% of our pod ash comes from abroad. 79 of which comes from Canada.
▶ 4:05:54Our domestic producers are reliant on a strong and stable trading relationship with Canada to prevent potsh prices from spiking, thus hurting both domestic partners or holy both the domestic producers as well as domestic consumers like farmers. Uh how can we ensure that this product uh which has which has a ton of Utah farmers that they rely on this does not emerge as a as a bargaining chip per se and and and some potential issues with USMCA renegotiations.
▶ 4:06:20Uh well through everything we've done in the last year and setting you know kind of a baseline global tariff and higher tariffs on on large surplus countries uh in all these cases pod ash has never been uh subject to changing trade policy. We've just kept the same trade policy as before.
▶ 4:06:35Excellent. So you don't you're the concern that this becomes a major bargaining chip and becomes you're not as concerned about that.
▶ 4:06:41Uh I mean we we haven't we haven't messed with it. We haven't put tariffs on pod ash. It's just kept flowing from Canada. So it's um you know we view that as a certain flow.
▶ 4:06:50Excellent. Thank you. Uh and back in February, last question. USR requested public feedback on the development of a pluralateral trade agreement on critical minerals which would enhance the resilience of critical mineral supply chains and the downstream industries that depend on them. Can you provide an update on the timeline for these negotiations? What are your top priorities to address collectively with like-minded allies and partners? Um the state of Utah's a rising player in this space. Uh there there's massive potential here that would you know benefit our our nation.
▶ 4:07:20How can state and local level officials impact these discussions positively?
▶ 4:07:24Uh sure. So our our office is developing a draft text that we can share with uh with allies. We're going to share it first with Congress and congressional staff to have review and get feedback directly uh from Congress on that. Uh and then we'll share with allies who are in a in a good position uh to be able to start negotiating.
▶ 4:07:43uh you know we have action plans on critical minerals with Mexico and Japan for example uh and we are looking at specific minerals just to almost run an experiment on and and and look at the data look at supply look at demand if we need some kind of a protective price floor to ensure the economics work out what would that look like how would you determine it and that kind of thing uh so that's moving along and then other agencies are doing stock piles and a lot of other things too
▶ 4:08:07excellent thank you so much chairman Miss Mali Takis
▶ 4:08:12thank you very much, ambassador. Appreciate you being here today. Uh, I want to echo an issue that some of my colleagues had brought up already. Uh, those of us from either California or New York, we really care about uh, the wine industry. Our wineries and distilleries are really getting hurt uh, for about a year now when several Canadian provinces effectively shut down American wine, spirits, and beer. And the impact has been significant. It's about a 78% drop in American wine exports to Canada.
▶ 4:08:40and this represents about a $350 million loss over the past year. So, as uh we're moving forward with this USMCA review and you're having conversations, I just want to echo what my colleagues uh have said, strongly encourage you to prioritize this issue uh with your Canadian counterparts and I and I trust that you will and I've also brought this up with Secretary Lutnik as well. Um but I do want to talk about another issue relating to the USMCA. It is about Cuban doctors.
▶ 4:09:09Uh this is uh basically what's happening here is Mexico is participating in what amounts to forced labor, slave uh human trafficking. Um and it's a it's a basically a forced labor scheme run by the Cuban communist regime. In February, I did join several of my colleagues. I wrote a letter, a two-year office flagging this issue. There is a loophole currently in article 23.6. Um and I'd like to submit this for the record, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 4:09:38And I will also give you a copy as well
▶ 4:09:40with that objection.
▶ 4:09:42Uh but basically Mexico pays the Cuban government billions of dollars to contract doctors and medical professionals. But the regime, the communist regime keeps that money. Really doesn't get to the actual workers. And these doctors, they f face coercive uh practices uh by their government like passport confiscation, wage withholding, surveillance, restrictions on movement, family contact. Uh, and these are all documented by the State Department and human rights groups.
▶ 4:10:09And now with President Trump and Secretary of State putting pressure on Cuba, it is it is the right time to fix this wrong in this agreement. And I urge you to use the 2026 review process to press Mexico on this issue. Ensure that there's clarification of article 23.6 in uh the USMCA and directly or indirectly to end to to stop subsidizing forced labor and human trafficking.
▶ 4:10:34And interestingly enough, uh the agreement actually recognizes illegal wildlife tra trafficking as a threat to legitimate commerce. So it's shocking that the trafficking of forced labor of humans uh whether it's carried out through governmentr run medical missions or service links to trade relationship are not addressed with equal prioritization.
▶ 4:10:57Uh thank you. You know forced labor is a is an important uh issue uh for the administration. The United States is chairing the G20 this year and forced labor is one of the issues we're talking about. We're conducting a section 301 investigation on forced labor, including with respect to Mexico. So, it's certainly something that's top of mind for us. And we'll take a closer look at some of the things you've talked about.
▶ 4:11:17I appreciate that because, as I said, this is putting billions of dollars in the pockets of Cuba's communist regime at a time when our president, our secretary of state are trying to economically them in hopes that we'll see some regime change. So, I think this is the right time for us to to take that action. uh to echo what they're trying to achieve. Um and what I'll what I'll also say is that uh I have a medical supply chain resiliency act. I've brought this up before.
▶ 4:11:40I know a lot of the conversation today was about removing our reliance on uh China, shifting more to reliable partners, bringing it home where we can. Uh I have a a bill, Medical Supply Chain Resiliency Act, which is bipartisan in this committee, and it basically uh gives the administration the tools to establish trusted trade partnerships uh with reliable allies. um to eliminate tariffs and trade barriers specifically to strengthen medical device and uh pharmaceutical supply chain.
▶ 4:12:07Is that something you feel could be a tool in your toolbox as you're moving forward?
▶ 4:12:11Uh that's possible. I think our staff should talk about it. Uh we have some trade actions related to pharmaceuticals and medical devices and I think if Congress has some some tools to help with reshoring and supply chain security that would that could be helpful.
▶ 4:12:24Right. Great. Could you give since I have a few seconds left, could you just give us an update where you're at on some of those uh trade deals and where you see the most opportunity to uh move our supply chain out of China and and and French shore it.
▶ 4:12:38Uh certainly I I would say with respect to pharmaceuticals uh this is actually an area where I've been I've been really encouraged on on reshoring because we have a lot of examples of specific commitments uh from pharmaceutical companies to build here. And you know listen we always hear from a lot of companies I'm going to invest X or I'm going to build this. Um but we are actually seeing concrete in the ground and superructures going up. Um
▶ 4:13:04yeah and I congratulate the administration on that. They have gotten trillions of dollars in investments from all different industries to to reassure and and produce here. Does that include APIs active pharmaceutical ingredients that we would need obviously to make the
▶ 4:13:17Yeah, that that that is a that is a trickier situation. Uh it's not just trade on that, it's also permitting. Uh the reason why some of that left was environmental rules. We're trying to uh have 21st century permitting and regulatory so we can get APIs back as these as these companies come back. Um the the ecosystem comes along with them and so we think that having the manufacturers here the APIs and the key starting materials will follow.
▶ 4:13:42Great. Well, I look forward to working with you and I appreciate your time.
▶ 4:13:45Mr. Petta.
▶ 4:13:46Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Greer, for being here. As you know, we're just over a year past Liberation Day. Yet the president's tariffs haven't freed us from the inflation and high costs that he promised to reduce. But when you have an effective tariff rate of 11%, the highest since 1943, it makes it pretty tough to keep those types of promises.
▶ 4:14:09Today the chairman talked about and yesterday I actually met with your a trade representative who also talked about the few deals that the administrative administration has entered into. She actually took the time to personally engage with us. something that your predecessors did, something that I've suggested you to do, but something that you have yet to do outside this room. But this administration goes it alone, especially with these types of deals that definitely are not enough to create manufacturing, lower costs, and increase jobs.
▶ 4:14:39In fact, the implementation of this administration's trade policy, which has been based on this president's 40-year fetish with tariffs, are hurting the American economy, the American worker, and the American consumer. I see it in my district. Small businesses from florists to farmers are hurting due to the cost of inputs for their products. Overseas markets relied on are being lost to our competitors. And according to the Yale Budget Lab, American households stand to lose between $650 to $1,300.
▶ 4:15:10Now, when the Supreme Court struck down the reciprocal tariffs under AIPA, the administration had an opportunity to reset. Instead, you double down and you lean in on section 301 and 232. But to get there, the president immediately imposed 10% tariffs using section 122 of the 74 trade act as a temporary bridge. Now 122 doesn't provide the president with broad tariff powers.
▶ 4:15:35Instead, it only authorizes a president to proclaim temporary duties or quotas when there is an international payments problem like a balance of payment deficit crisis that then mandates a president to impose special import measures to restrict imports. Now look, I get you claim that there is a spending problem that's been intentional and deliberate for the last 40 years, but we don't have an in international payments problem. Now, Mr.
▶ 4:16:03Greer, since 122 was created, tariffs have never been implemented un under 122 before this year. Correct.
▶ 4:16:10That's right.
▶ 4:16:10And that's because we've never had a balance of payment deficit crisis, which you need to invoke tariffs under 122.
▶ 4:16:17We've had one, but it's my time. claiming my time trillion claiming my time 122 is antiquated and it's inapplicable. It was created as a way to fix a situation when we are on the gold standard and there is a crisis in which there is too much currency flowing out of the country. That is a balance of payment deficit crisis that 122 was designed to prevent. But we've never had that situation mainly because as you stated earlier our dollar isn't tied to gold or any commodity.
▶ 4:16:48In fact, it floats and adjusts on the open market. That means our dollar value is unaffected by the amount of US currency overseas. Moreover, we've got way too much foreign investment in the US that offsets any money going out of the US. So, it's very very difficult to have a large and serious balance of payments deficit problem under section 122. And in fact, your administration, the Trump administration, argued this in VOS selections vers Trump.
▶ 4:17:18In that case, the DOJ actually argued that tariffs were applicable under AIPA and not 122. The administration even stated that section 122, and I quote, has no obvious application here, unquote. Because the administration claimed trade deficits are quote conceptually distinct from the balance of payments crisis necessary for 122 apply.
▶ 4:17:44Yet 5 hours after the Supreme Court's decision in learning resources that struck down the president's tariffs under AIPA. The president then issued an executive order using 122 to impose tariffs. Now despite your administration previously arguing that 122 doesn't apply, you're now arguing that it does apply. Look, I disagree with that. The courts are going to find that it disagrees that they disagree with that. And so the argument will be that you're going to make is that AIPA tariffs are gone.
▶ 4:18:13So you now need to impose tariffs under 122 to prevent a balance of payments crisis as a preventative measure. But under that reasoning, you could have invoked 122 any time over the past year. And as much as you're acting disinterested right now, you need to realize that 122 can't be used as a preventative measure since 122 states that the president shall act and not may act when import restrictions are needed to address a balance of payments deficit crisis.
▶ 4:18:40You need a balance of payments deficit crisis and you don't have it. That's why you didn't invoke 122 prior to the Supreme Court decision. And that's why the Trump administration argued that 122 couldn't be invoked to impose tariffs. Section 122 is antiquated. It isn't inapplicable and it's irrelevant and why I have legislation to get rid of it and reimburse my constituents who are being screwed over by President Trump's tariffs. I yield back. Mr.
▶ 4:19:06Kerry, I want to thank the chairman and the ranking member and definitely you, Ambassador. Um, I'm going to try to hit on three issues. Um, I'd like to talk about Chinese vapes. also like to talk about the Chinese drones and then if we have time I'd like to dive into the pharmaceuticals and what I don't get a chance to ask I will submit for the record.
▶ 4:19:29Um as you are aware the Chinese state tobacco monopoly administration has deliberately allowed a massive influx of illegal ecigarette smart vape devices into the United States. Now these devices um in large part are marketed on social media forums such as Tik Tok and they uh Chinese smart vape vape devices.
▶ 4:19:56Uh you know there are serious concerns about the cyber security related to that. Um because of a lot of the issues surrounding the these vapes, um I led an a effort in a letter to USR and Treasury, which was signed by over 70 members of the House, uh urging that this issue be elevated during the trade negotiations with China, which I believe you're having in a couple weeks.
▶ 4:20:25Um and of course, this is very timely with the president's meeting with President Xi. You know, I know there are a lot of issues uh that are on the agenda for this, and I would hope that this could be one of those issues that you could raise during your uh negotiations with the Chinese. Would that be something you might be willing to do?
▶ 4:20:45Let me talk to our team and see if there's an opportunity. I I received your letter and we know this is important to you. It's important to us, too, as an administration. We've taken a lot of domestic measures to try to seize these types of illegal vapes. uh and so at the appropriate time we can raise with the Chinese too.
▶ 4:21:00And ambassador, I do appreciate that and I do appreciate your staff's work with my with my team on these issues. Um, second I'm going to touch upon the the Chinese drones. And this is a concept that uh, you know, those of us that don't follow drone technology as closely every single day, but one of the one of the issues that I found, and I'm not speaking anecdotally, but but some of the facts um, that we have found that the Chinese company of DJI has around 80% of all the commercial drone market
▶ 4:21:30here in the United States. Many of this many of these drones present a serious national security threat to our nation. I don't think there's any um any doubt about that. Many of these drones are performing surveillance in certain areas. Township trustees, you know, uh county engineers use them that cover our bridges and overpasses and all of these things.
▶ 4:21:52Um so while this commercial drone uh industry in this country the fact of the matter is these products are not going anywhere in the short term and we know that with that in context can you tell me a little more about the conversations that you may and we have two minutes are having with the Chinese about the malicious components and software in these drone products.
▶ 4:22:15Well, I I I will say that in our trade and economic discussions, um we we do not get too much into national security concerns with the with the Chinese. We don't want to be in a position where we're negotiating, you know, things like that. Rather, what we do as an administration is we take actions domestically. Uh the FCC, for example, recently took an action uh to prohibit new versions of foreign drones, you know, Chinese or otherwise. Yeah. Um to to help guard against these kinds of
▶ 4:22:46Okay. And I and I appreciate that and and and I completely understand that. And and Ohio is open for business for all the drone technology. We've got some great uh facilities in Springfield, Ohio, which is in my district, uh as well as in Columbus. Uh want to talk a little bit about medical supplies. um you worked with the USU uh and UK agreement on PHAC pharmaceutical pricing. Really appreciate all your efforts as it related to the technologies and future tariffs under section 232 and section 301.
▶ 4:23:16We definitely applaud your efforts. uh exempting medical supplies from trusted trading partners is critical to ensuring that we have a resilient supply chains as it relates to multiple sources of both costeffective and costefficient life-saving devices.
▶ 4:23:33Is the USR considering similar language in other countryspecific deals to ensure that medical providers don't face further tariff related costs of increase for medical supplies? You have 20 seconds.
▶ 4:23:48Well, what we're trying to do is we're trying to make sure that other countries accept our FDA certifications for medical devices. So, we have market access there and we're trying to reshore medical devices here and protect it as well. Um, you know, we're happy to talk to any stakeholders you might have if they have concerns about the trade policy in this area.
▶ 4:24:05Mr. Ambassador, we definitely thank you for your time. And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
▶ 4:24:10Thank you, Mr. uh Mr. Yakam.
▶ 4:24:14Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, Ambassador Greer, it's great to see you again. Thanks for being here. I hear my friends on the other side of the aisle complaining constantly about tariff authorities, and I couldn't help but wonder, what would they do if they held all the levers of power? Well, they did hold the trifecta of power in 2021 and 2022. This committee marked up over 1,700 pages worth of partisan and bipartisan bills, which I have right here.
▶ 4:24:41Ambassador Greer, of these 1700 pages, how many would you guess amended tariff authorities?
▶ 4:24:48Probably zero.
▶ 4:24:50That is correct. Uh that would be zero. Zero changes to section 232, 301, 122 ora. If it's so important, why didn't they change the law when they had the trifecta of power? The complaints now ring hollow. They had two years to amend tariff authorities, but instead they chose the green new uh scam. green boondoggles and massive spending that stoked generational inflation.
▶ 4:25:16I was glad to see the administration create annex 3 in recognition of the fact that there are certain products and commodities that are not grown or produced here. And I was so excited when we finally clinched Annex3 treatment for Luon wood products from Indonesia which you and I have spoken about many times.
▶ 4:25:32Although it was short a short-lived victory since the Indonesia agreement on reciprocal trade was announced the day before learning resources uh that decision when that came down uh as you complete the ongoing section 301 investigations are you planning to maintain annex 3 treatment for countries with an agreement on reciprocal trade?
▶ 4:25:51Uh, I think what I can say on this because the investigations are ongoing and we can't prejudge, but to the extent that the agreements on reciprocal trade mitigate any of the problematic trading practices we find, then we'll certainly take those into account.
▶ 4:26:06Thank you, sir. I've heard from a number of businesses back home that want to expand their operations here in the United States and hire more people, but doing so often requires importing machinery, which certainly scramles the economics of the investment. Now, sometimes this is a a brand preference, but a lot of the time the machinery that they need to expand their factory just simply isn't made here or can't be made here.
▶ 4:26:29In some cases, these are not multi-million dollar deals that'll make national headlines, but they'd be huge for the communities where investment is happening. How can we get relief for some of these companies that want to invest and grow jobs here, but are also stuck in that catch22?
▶ 4:26:44Sure. So, so just a few things on this. First of all, we do have the Small Business Administration uh that has opened a a portal to help match up producers in America with supplier or you know suppliers and customers in America with with each other. Uh they also have some loan programs. If there's a cash flow issue, we have the big beautiful bill where folks can expense capital goods and that usually will include if there's a tariff impact it'll include that. Uh I would also say a couple of weeks ago the commerce department made an adjustment to the steel tariffs and derivatives.
▶ 4:27:13Some of these machine tools I think fell under derivatives. Some of these ended up being excluded altogether from from that action and are subject to just a different and lower tariff rate. And we've also made compliance uh simpler for that. And and as we go forward as we have, you know, section 301 or other investigations, we welcome comments during the public process on uh views on things that should have tariffs or
▶ 4:27:34Thank you. and and seeing something uh happen in that regard even for smaller uh companies, smaller manufacturers that may not have a domestic option here at all, I think would be a very good thing. So, thank you, sir. As it currently stands, the 25% section 232 auto tariffs put North America's auto industry at a disadvantage when compared to the 15% auto tariff for the EU, Japan, and South Korea, and then 10% for the UK.
▶ 4:28:00Is there a plan to reconcile or reccalibrate section 232 auto tariffs as a part of or alongside the USMCA review?
▶ 4:28:08So, as we do the USMCA review, we do have to coordinate with the Department of Commerce uh because they have the autos 232 and USMC has the auto rules of origin. So, we'll coordinate with them certainly. uh the commerce department has made accommodation uh for Mexico and for for for our domestic auto producers who are bringing in uh goods and products that have US content and they can have a parts offset uh to some degree uh to help have a transition to more production here in the US.
▶ 4:28:36Thank you. And as you know when the original USMCA deal was announced it included tariff relief from section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs in Canada and Mexico. Are you negotiating on steel and aluminum as a part of or alongside the USMCA review process?
▶ 4:28:51Well, the Canadians and the Mexicans certainly want some kind of adjustment. Uh, President Trump has been very clear that it's important to have tariffs on on these items and they've been effective. We have a, you know, the Gary Works uh is is reopening or excuse me, Granite City Works is reopening which is a great a great outcome. Uh, we shipped more steel last year than Japan for the first time in a very long time. Uh so Canada and Mexico are asking uh for adjustments. Uh anything on that front the president would have to approve.
▶ 4:29:21Right. Thank you, Ambassador Greer for being here. Thanks to your staff for continuing to work with my team on these important issues. I do appreciate it. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
▶ 4:29:29Mr. Horseford.
▶ 4:29:31Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and to the ranking member, Ambassador Greer. Welcome back. Uh it's been a year since you last uh came before this committee and public hearing. And I want to start with the people who paid the price for the choices that have been made over the past year. Ambassador, the Supreme Court has now ruled that these blanket tariffs are illegal. This hearing should be about one thing, getting the American people their money back.
▶ 4:29:59So, let me ask you something that should be pretty easy. Yes or no? Do you believe American families deserve refunds for the higher prices that they paid under tariffs the Supreme Court has now ruled illegal? Yes or no?
▶ 4:30:14So I I think
▶ 4:30:15yes or no, Mr.
▶ 4:30:16We could get the Biden inflation 12% back to the consumers. That would be a great start.
▶ 4:30:21I will take that as a no.
▶ 4:30:22Democratic attorneys general tariff revenue companies claiming my time as you can't answer the very basic Yes or no to the American people who paid the price through taxes that were imposed illegally by this That's why I've introduced the Relief Act to guarantee automatic refunds in 90 days.
▶ 4:30:52No games, no gimmicks, no applications, no red tape, no just getting the people their money back. That is what this should be about because families were paying more while someone else was profiting. And I want to move to that. At our last hearing, you said, and I quote this, no, this is not market But since then, we've seen a clear pattern.
▶ 4:31:23Tariffs are announced, markets move, a sudden reversal follows, markets move, and then the tariffs resume. One over and over again. Mr. Chairman, I ask for unanimous consent to submit to the record 10 articles documenting concerns about market moving policy actions and trading activities around them.
▶ 4:31:46Without objection.
▶ 4:31:47Thank you, Ambassador. 18 minutes before last year's tariff pause, 18 minutes, traders placed enormous bets that the market would surge. And 46 minutes before the president's announcement on Iran negotiations just last week, someone shorted the oil market by hundreds of millions of dollars. Markets don't move like that by accident.
▶ 4:32:15And it raises serious questions about market manipulation and insider trading inside Donald Trump's administration. You told this committee that the original tariff pause was part of the plan. Well, if that's true, then that plan was worth billions to anyone who knew about it in advance at the expense of hardworking Americans. That's wrong. And it raises a very simple question. Who knew it?
▶ 4:32:43and who profited off of the backs of the American people. It stinks and at a minimum it warrants an investigation. That's why I led a letter with 130 other Democrats asking for answers about the Liberation Day tariff pause. We still haven't re received a response from you, Mr. Ambassador. Mr. Mr.
▶ 4:33:05Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record the letter dated April 11th, 2025 uh into the record.
▶ 4:33:14Without objection.
▶ 4:33:15So, Ambassador, let me ask you, what steps have you taken specifically to ensure that no one under your supervision is trading on non-public market moving information?
▶ 4:33:29uh we have ethics rules uh that are imposed and every every government employee whether they're a political or whether the career staff they have to follow these rules every year we you know those who are in high positions they have to fill out a form that says what ambass this is about a form someone access to your information is actively moving markets minutes before announcements existing safeguards cards are clearly not
▶ 4:34:00working. Instead of delivering relief to working people, this administration is allowing insiders to profit while everyone else pays more. Now, I want to move on to one last
▶ 4:34:12That's just not true.
▶ 4:34:13You said in your last testimony that we would have 90 deals in 90 days.
▶ 4:34:19Did I say that?
▶ 4:34:21Yes, you did.
▶ 4:34:22I don't think I said that.
▶ 4:34:23You I asked you
▶ 4:34:2590 days, 90 deals in 90 days. I don't think you said. So, how many do we have
▶ 4:34:29Uh, we have we have 18.
▶ 4:34:3018 of 90 in my book. That is a failing grade. Your testimony gloatess how you've made just as many trade deals during your tenure as free trade agreements since 1985. But you know better than anyone that those free trade agreements went through Congress. And if you don't know that, then we have a bigger problem.
▶ 4:34:53Because the reality is there is no trade agreement that isn't binding, that isn't enforcable, and that no one has the opportunity to review. None of them have gone through Congress. Meanwhile, they are costing the American people more. And to me, the American pe people deserve better. They deserve their money back. They deserve accountability for the market manipulation and the insider trading.
▶ 4:35:20They deserve transparency and right now they're not getting any of that from this administration. We deserve better. I yield back,
▶ 4:35:30Mr. Beam.
▶ 4:35:31Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon to you. Good afternoon, Ways and Means. And uh especially to our uh honored guest, Ambassador Greer. Welcome back. We're glad to have you here. Since the early 90s, America has lost over manufacturing firms or plants or companies in the United States that either either have closed or gone overseas because just they couldn't compete with foreign uh the foreign markets that are bringing things here
▶ 4:36:01to to uh to sell. Uh with that comes the loss of over five million manufacturing jobs. Let me tell you what you and President Trump have done. You've said enough. We're not going to stand for it anymore. We're going to jump in and put America first. So, what you've done and President Trump, you've prioritized American workers, farmers, manufacturing manufacturers by expanding access to foreign markets and enforcing our trade laws.
▶ 4:36:31You've done it for a little bit over a year. and uh largely through your efforts and uh that of President Trump, you've secured dozens of commitments from other countries uh to eliminate trade barriers there and also at the same time have brought back American manufacturing and now we know made in America means things. So you've done it over a year and let me tell you what you did. You set a record.
▶ 4:36:56You set a record for record American exports, $3.4 4 trillion dollar in 2025. Uh don't hold your breath uh Ambassador Greer that that's going to be the headline on on on every newspaper. It should because finally you're putting uh America first and it's exciting to see. I know uh that it hasn't been easy just hearing today uh you getting grilled. Putting America first. You would think that would be an easy thing to do, but it's not.
▶ 4:37:27When we set up these agreements with other countries, though, you also know this because I know President Trump knows this from his first term. Uh we know that China, there are countries like China that don't play by the rules and will manipulate those agreements to sneak their goods and services here. We've uh done a a great job of uh limiting them.
▶ 4:37:45But how do we whether it's through the US MCA or through trade agreements, how do we ensure that China and other back bad actors don't gain illicit access to our markets and further undermine our manufacturing, small businesses, farmers, and producers. Ambassador Greer,
▶ 4:38:05thank you. Uh and and thanks for that that vote of confidence. And I I agree with you. you know, when we're exporting more than we've ever exported in 250 years of American history, uh, and we see manufacturing coming back, uh, I'm I'm puzzled at there's reactions or disappointment in that. Uh, with with respect to dealing with, uh, essentially trade cheating is what you're talking about. Um, there are a few ways to deal with it. On the one hand, we have just enforcement in the US.
▶ 4:38:31We have Customs and Border Protection who under this president are being very aggressive about identifying counterfeits, identifying trans shipment, and taking action. And so that's part of it.
▶ 4:38:39It's on your radar though. That's what I want to know. It's on your radar. China and for steel and other things that have components. We just want to make sure it is indeed on your radar screen. Uh when you think of Florida, maybe you think of beaches, theme parks, uh but or or no uh no income tax. But Florida, this has comes to a shock to many people, is an agricultural state. We grow oranges, tomatoes, pine trees, and we also grow sugar cane.
▶ 4:39:04Right now, foreign actors, foreign countries are dumping their sugar in uh in our country. Uh and they're subsidized by their own country. Uh it's created a dire consequence for sugar growers in uh in in Florida and really across the United States. What are we doing? Is it on your radar screen? What are we doing to protect sugar and other commodities like that that uh can't compete?
▶ 4:39:28It is on our radar screen. We had a 50% tariff on Brazilian sugar that, you know, Democrats attorneys general insisted on suing to take that down to open, you know, to to destroy protection for American sugar. I've had conversations uh with with many members of Congress uh who who have the same concerns as you. Uh so I'm working with USDA to figure out how our trade management of sugar imports can be better optimized to benefit our own
▶ 4:39:54Thank you so much. We grow cotton in America and uh but we don't have the ability to process it and make it into underwear and shirts and footwear. The uh the American apparel and footwear industry has great concerns that because we don't make it in America, we we grow it. We send it overseas when it comes back. Humongous tariffs. Is that on your radar screen?
▶ 4:40:19and can we make some uh adjustments to for American products that are that are added value elsewhere than come here. What say you ambassador
▶ 4:40:29So so we have made adjustments particularly in Central America uh that's part of our uh cotton textile supply chain to make sure that that that supply chain is preferential relative to Asia and other places. We want to have as much of that production uh as close to to home as we can.
▶ 4:40:46Thank you, Ambassador Greer. Thank you for putting America first, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. Thank you, Mr. Moran.
▶ 4:40:52Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Ambassador, thanks for being here today. Just a couple more folks today, but I want to go over just some of the wins, a lot of the wins that you've had in the last uh year or so since the election of President Trump and your confirmation as the United States Trade Representative in February 2025. The US finally has an executive branch advocating for prosperity and growth for US businesses. President Trump put you on a mission to stop unfair trading practices, open new markets, and boost the production of the United States.
▶ 4:41:20And you and your team have delivered on this mission, but the work, as you've noted, today is not done. Nevertheless, I want to pause today and reflect for a moment about the wins you and the president have had over the past year. I want to show you uh the big board behind me. Uh 2.2 2 trillion in new investments into the United States committed by foreign governments through your negotiations in cooperation with the work of Secretary Lutnik and the Department of Commerce.
▶ 4:41:45You have actively engaged our trading partners and established 18 deals through trade agreements, FRA frameworks and investment commitments. The US has secured commitments by nine countries, as you said earlier, not to impose digital services taxes or other discriminatory digital measures. And Canada's digital services tax has been repealed. And we have now seen 32% reduction in goods trade deficit with China in 2025.
▶ 4:42:11That's a win win win and win and a lot more wins that we could talk about. Things like the launch of the agreement on the reciprocal trade program that expanded market access for US workers and firms. And the president implementing his policy in in April 2025 since he actually engaged in that trade deficit and goods decreased on a year-over-year basis every month through December 2025. new investments in the auto industry as you mentioned and many many more.
▶ 4:42:37Ambassador Greer, can you tell us more about how these achievements have benefited everyday Americans and why these achievements are particularly significant to the future growth of our economy?
▶ 4:42:48Uh well, thanks for going through the the hit list on that. Let me just give you a couple of thoughts on this. Under President Biden, wages for manufacturing workers dropped by $830 under President Trump in one year. One year, wages for manufacturing workers have gone up by $2,400. Overtime hours for manufacturing workers have increased. Manufacturing productivity has increased.
▶ 4:43:12And last quarter, for the first time, we've seen positive uh manufacturing jobs numbers since a huge loss during the Biden years. So, the very things we're trying to do, reshore American manufacturing, it's happening right now. And along the way, we're getting foreign market access to get historic export numbers. We're making sure our digital our digital tech companies are being treated fairly. and we're attracting new investment uh here in the United States to create jobs here that are good for the working class.
▶ 4:43:38Yeah, you're doing it successfully. And even though there's a lot of naysayers here today that want to uh want to badmouth the the progress that we've made, it is great progress for the American economy and great progress for the American worker. And it's incredible that we've achieved it just in the last 15 months. Let's talk about the EU US trade deal. On March 26th, the European Parliament voted to advance the US EU agreement on reciprocal, fair, and balanced trade. Originally agreed to to last July.
▶ 4:44:05As stated in the agreement, the US and the European Union share one of the world's largest economic relationships supported by mutual investment stocks exceeding $5 trillion. I think we need to leverage this strength and I welcome efforts to strengthen our economic partnerships and relationships with key allies like the European Union particularly where we can reduce barriers to US exports and ensure fair trade practices while fostering our partnerships in other key areas and excluding China and their undue global influence across the world.
▶ 4:44:35How do you see this US EU agreement of reciprocal fair and balanced trade to improve market access for American producers and what steps will be needed to ensure these commitments are fully implemented?
▶ 4:44:47So, so right now the European Parliament bill which they approved uh is going through a process called trilog. This is something where it goes through um the different bodies of the European Union for final approval. And again, this bill, it reduces all uh tariffs for the US on industrial goods and it provides a number of duty-free uh quotas for US agricultural goods. And I'm in conversation uh with my partners in Europe right now on eliminating non-tariff barriers. So, this is a huge opportunity.
▶ 4:45:17Our trade deficit with Europe is already going down. It's really big, but it's already going down, and I think it'll be even in even better shape after this goes through.
▶ 4:45:25Fantastic. And I appreciate your work on critical minerals as well. I've got some questions on that, but my time is short. I want to say this in conclusion. What I hear from my constituents is that consistency is key for their investments. You know this and you're working on that. You and the president have reordered global trade and have put Americans first on the world stage. And we're appreciative of your efforts. Now, we need to make sure that our industries can plan on these agreements and make them permanent.
▶ 4:45:48For the past four years, prior to the Trump administrations, Americans had to rely on trade relations that took advantage of Americans and allowed our trading partners to profit off of our innovation. We must now ensure that the US never regresses back to those relations. And I stand ready to make sure that President Trump's historic trade agreements and your hard work remain lasting. And with that, I yield. Thank you,
▶ 4:46:12Mr. Swisy.
▶ 4:46:13Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ambassador Greer, good to see you. Thanks so much for your public service. We appreciate uh you being here today with us. Uh you were here a year ago on April 9th of 2025 and I remember you were sitting here in this exact same spot and I was sitting here and in the midst of this the president undid the liberation day policies as you were sitting here. It was actually a kind of an awkward moment. Uh
▶ 4:46:38I thought it was okay.
▶ 4:46:40Yeah. Okay. Anyway, so you know, tariffs can be used very effectively, as you know, especially when combating our strategic adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party. Uh they can be used to protect specific industries, and I support the idea of doing that. Um I don't like how we've treated some of our friends in the uh in the international arena the same as we've treated our our strategic adversaries. Uh I don't like the fact that Congress has not been involved in the process.
▶ 4:47:09committee should be more involved in the trade policy of the United States of America and as evidenced by the rulings of the Supreme Court they would agree with that statement as well and I don't like how the fact that uh the trade policy and the conduct of this administration has caused instability and volatility in our markets which have discouraged investment uh and they've also caused an increase in prices. So, let me just say, have you ever heard the expression that businesses crave predictability?
▶ 4:47:38Sure, we've heard about that.
▶ 4:47:40So, I've talked to a lot of businesses, I'm sure you have as well, that talk about the fact that they're not sure whether to invest or not because of the instability, the volatility, the way the things the policy changes in this administration from month to month, even year to year. Would you agree that there's been some instability and volatility caused by the trade policy of this country? We've certainly raised uh tariffs because before we had very low tariffs so we had wild imports from China. We don't we don't we don't want that. We have
▶ 4:48:07the policy of this administration has caused instability and volatility in
▶ 4:48:11we saw some volatility last year as you're undoing 50 years of terrible trade policy and we're fixing it. We're building up tariffs to protect the industries we need. People have referred to the Trump turbulence tax and uh there's a quote from Larry Frink from Black Rockck who I'm sure you know him who said the United States post World War II was a global stabilizer. Now we're a global destabilizer. None of it is needed to h none of this needed to happen. This is not a pandemic. This is not a financial crisis.
▶ 4:48:40This is something that we've created. Uncertainty and anxiety about the future of the markets and the economy are dominating each and every client conversation. You've heard that quote from Mr. Fink before.
▶ 4:48:50Well, I haven't read that, but I know Mr. Frink.
▶ 4:48:53All I know is the markets hit 50,000. We're growing faster than any G7 polic. You've agreed that there's been some instability and volatility that's been resulting from this policy. Let me ask you this question.
▶ 4:49:04If you have status quo, that's a bad status quo. You will have a change if you're going to try to improve it.
▶ 4:49:09Let me ask you this question. Are tariffs increasing prices for the American consumer?
▶ 4:49:13So, so I I'm going to say no. We had a 12% increase under Biden and we are at
▶ 4:49:19Disagree. So, you disagree with the statement from the Tax Foundation that these tariffs are causing costs to go up $1,000 per household. You disagree with that? I
▶ 4:49:27do disagree with that. Yes.
▶ 4:49:28And you disagree with the statement from the Yale Budget Lab,
▶ 4:49:30the Biden Budget Lab. Yes.
▶ 4:49:32The Yale Budget Labers who says that this is costing each household $2,400. I do disagree on an annual basis
▶ 4:49:39because they assume that it passes down. Right here, article from the Wall Street Journal, who doesn't like me, by the way, Trump's tariffs are being picked up by corporate America, not the consumers.
▶ 4:49:48Okay. And do you disagree with the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce because in New York things are more expensive, that this is costing each household $4,200.
▶ 4:49:56I can't fix the M Donnie socialist city
▶ 4:49:59Well, that's not the Chamber of Commerce, but Okay, that's very clever.
▶ 4:50:03Okay. And how about from Moody's Moody's in investment services? They say that these tariffs are raising inflation and the cost of living. Do you disagree with
▶ 4:50:12I do disagree. These are the people who want offshoring, Mr. SW.
▶ 4:50:15And you disagree with the fact that the Moody's also says this reduces jobs and reduces the strength of our economy.
▶ 4:50:22We have a we are the strongest economy in the G7. So you disagree with Neil Brad brady uh Bradley from the US Chamber of Commerce who says that these tariffs have caused significant cost increases. So I will say that for some things that is true because if we're getting subsidized stuff from China and we're trying to create a market price for intermediate goods it it
▶ 4:50:43it's not just China it's all kinds of different goods and there's a lot of you know you talked about I think you called them the bi the the Biden budget lab or something like that Biden staff but the US Chamber of Commerce the tax foundation these are conservative institutions that are saying that these are costing consumers one said $1,000 a year another said $2,400 $100 a year. Another said $4,200 a year. So, you disagree with all of that.
▶ 4:51:06These aren't conservative institutions. They're offshoring institutions.
▶ 4:51:09Okay. All right. Thank you for your service, Ambassador Greer. Appreciate it very much. Have a great day.
▶ 4:51:16Thank you. Um, thank you, Ambassador Greer, for appearing before us today. Um, I'm just reminded of my very first line in my opening statement. Um, I said since last April's liberation day, the sky has not fallen on the economy as the so-called experts and naysayers predicted. In fact, we have record exports, $3.4 trillion.
▶ 4:51:45The reason why we have opened up more markets for our farmers and our manufacturers is by you and the president using the power and leverage of the tariffs to countries who have ignored prior administrations. But they don't ignore Donald Trump. They don't ignore you. As I speak to world leaders every day, I want to say thank you, Ambassador Greer, because you're right.
▶ 4:52:14wages came up more in the last than the prior four years under Biden You did it in one year, but the Democrats, they couldn't do it in four. And so I want to say thank you. They talk about the cost of goods. I sat here and I heard a lot of stuff earlier. They talk about the cost of goods.
▶ 4:52:38You look at what the CPI says that the cost of food increased from the first day that Joe Biden came into office to the last day Joe Biden was in office was 29%. Since Donald Trump has been in office, the cost of food has gone up 2%. Who is the result of the affordability crisis? The Democrats. They went on a $10 trillion spending spree that led inflation to the highest level in half a century.
▶ 4:53:08So, I just want to say thank you for being here, putting up with all this conversation um and dialogue. Even some of it, the facts weren't completely straight, but I appreciate it. Um please be advised that members have two weeks to submit written questions to be answered later in writing. Those questions and your answers will be part of the formal hearing record. With that, the committee stands adjourned.