▶ 0:19:16>> senator wyden will be in the room at any minute. I am starting without him with his permission because I am going to have to make my opening statement and then leave to the budget committee very quickly, and I will turn the gavel over to senator wyden for his opening statement, and then he will continue to run the meeting until I come back. Ambassador, I apologize if I step up before you speak. Rules are rules around here and I have to be present for a vote at 10: 10, a few minutes.
▶ 0:19:47You understand. Again, I will open to hearing by welcoming you, ambassador. Thank you for appear before the finance committee to discuss the president's 2026 annual trade agenda. We also appreciate you and your team working with us to reschedule this hearing which we had to cancel once before because we were on the floor until 2:00 in the morning.
▶ 0:20:12Trade policy remains a cornerstone of our nation's economic strength, global leadership, and ability to create opportunities for american farmers, ranchers, businesses, and workers. The trade landscape has evolved significantly since you last of the fight before the committee on the president's trade agenda. Today's hearing is an opportunity to take stock of where we are and where we need to go.
▶ 0:20:37Together, the administration and congress can build a durable policy and enforcement regime around a fair application of long-standing american trade goals. First, U.S. trade policy must reflect our strategic priorities. The administration has maintained a firm stance in addressing nonmarket policies and practices that distort competition and disadvantage american workers and companies. The administration also continues to emphasize rebuilding domestic manufacturing capacity and securing critical supply chains.
▶ 0:21:09Second, U.S. trade policy must reflect economic realities. Market access matters. It remains a fundamental driver of american economic growth. American producers and service providers depend on the ability to compete fairly in global markets. Unfair and discriminatory barriers to U.S. exports must be removed.
▶ 0:21:33Whether through tariff reductions, elimination of non-tariff barriers or the establishment of clear and transparent rules, creating opportunities for businesses of all sizes and supporting high-quality jobs here at home. To understand why we need to do this, we need to look no further than to the U.S.-mexico canada agreement or the usmca. The usmca supports 13 million american jobs, represents a 55% increase in investments in the U.S.
▶ 0:22:03From canada and mexico compared to pre-usmca levels. And has led to $60 billion in exports and agricultural goods barely nearly one third of all U.S. agriculture exports. Third, market access must be paired with strong enforcement for usmca and other trade agreements to remain effectual.
▶ 0:22:27Robust enforcement ensures a level playing field and sends a clear signal that the united states stands behind its farmers, workers, and businesses. Fair market access and its enforcement is constantly tested by unfair trade practices used against our farmers and ranchers .
▶ 0:22:46Idaho producers often tell me how these practices create significant economic hardships for our agriculture community, including among our dairy, onion, potato, sheep, and sugar beet industries. Meanwhile, a growing array of discriminatory measures in the form of digital service taxes, online content requirements and data localization target U.S. digital firms and restrict U.S. competition barriers. These pose an existential threat to american innovation.
▶ 0:23:19Similarly, concerns with foreign pharmaceutical price controls are top of mind as the U.S. begins to negotiate pharmaceutical deals. Finally, business certainty in the trade environment is crucial for american industry to take full advantage of market opening opportunities so it can grow and compete effectively. In all these matters, close collaboration and consultation between congress and the administration is essential to advance the policies needed to promote durable growth and fairness.
▶ 0:23:50The combined effort between congress and the administration is the most effective means by which to identify new opportunities for market access, strengthen enforcement tools, and meet emerging challenges in the global trading system. The challenges and opportunities in global trade are complex, but they present a chance to strengthen our economy and reaffirm our leadership on the world's stage.
▶ 0:24:15Ambassador, I look forward to continuing to work closely with you to advance the trade policy that delivers fair and open markets for the american people. Again, I thank you for joining us today, and welcome today's discussion. I will try to get back as quickly as I can. I will turn the gavel over to senator wyden to proceed.
▶ 0:24:33Sen. Wyden: Thank you, Mr. chairman. Ambassador greer, glad to talk about these issues this morning. The trump trade agenda dominated by big promises. First, he promised to lower costs. Second, he promised to be tough on china. Third, he promised to open up new markets for american farmers and small businesses. These promises have not panned out.
▶ 0:25:00Sen. Wyden: A year and a half into the trump second term, farmers are on the ropes. I was just home for six open town hall meetings in rural oregon, in communities where donald trump got more than 70% of the vote. I can tell you, the week farmers in eastern oregon tell me they are barely hanging on to their family farms, getting hammered by high prices for key inputs, inputs like fuel and equipment.
▶ 0:25:30Sen. Wyden: Small businesses like a local toy shop" -- portland are closing their doors after high tariffs made their business impossible. Uncertainty is costing workers jobs including at portland coffee roasters. Supply chains have been disrupted, small businesses are delaying investments, new employees in manufacturing.
▶ 0:25:52Sen. Wyden: Like so many other promises, donald trump has made to working people, the second he set foot in the white house, he did nothing to put american businesses and workers first. What he did is he embarked on a tariff spree that put the cost of living crisis on steroids in america. The supreme court eventually overturned the trump global tariffs but the higher costs are here to stay.
▶ 0:26:20Sen. Wyden: The 2020 five truck tariffs cost the american -- average american family 1700 dollars in groceries and gas prices. This week, donald trump announced massive new tariffs on clothes and school supplies and other products from canada, using a provision based in the smoot-hawley tariff act of 1930.
▶ 0:26:42Sen. Wyden: Americans ought to know that nobody, not even herbert hoover, used this provision before, but donald trump dug up a zombie law to make things even more expensive for americans. Trump's next trade scream is ordering ustr to reconstruct global tariffs under the guise of addressing forced labor. As I recently said, if the administration wants to get serious about forced labor, the first step is to look at its own enforcement record.
▶ 0:27:14Sen. Wyden: Donald trump has failed to enforce the laws on the books and has cut government efforts dedicated to fighting forced labor around the world. Ambassador greer, at our hearing last year, you told us that nearly 50 countries had approached you, and those countries were clamoring for trade deals.
▶ 0:27:34Sen. Wyden: Instead of agreements, what I have seen is we have press releases and announcements about supposed deals that have not been approved by congress, have not been enforced, have not reduced tariffs. My own take on these proposals is there is no there there. The one piece of the trump administration trade agenda that seems to be progressing is the corrupt enrichment of so many in the trump orbit. His family, allies, and himself.
▶ 0:28:07Sen. Wyden: Donald trump lowered tariffs on switzerland after swiss billionaires gave trump a gold bar worth more than 100,000 dollars. A korean company under investigation for trade cheating paid a trump holding company to million dollars. The administration waived export restrictions on the uae after eight emma roddy company invested $500 million in the trump cryptocurrency agenda. I could go on. We have a busy morning.
▶ 0:28:35Sen. Wyden: The bottom line is american families are paying more in tariffs so that donald trump and his cronies can profit. My own take is, the way to stop this correction and chaos is to take unfettered tariff power away from the president. It is well past time to put congress back in the driver's seat on trade. That is why today I'm able to introduce the congressional trade powers reform act.
▶ 0:29:03Sen. Wyden: It overhauls existing trade powers to ensure that no future presidential administration can abuse its authority on trade and thrust the country into a cost of living crisis. It would require congressional approval of any tariff proposed by the president, and it would establish an advisory committee to ensure congress actually is in a position to exercise its rightful oversight over tariffs and trade.
▶ 0:29:29Sen. Wyden: It is time to restore consistency, reliability, and success in our country's trade agenda. That is what my bill is all about. I look forward to talking to colleagues on both sides of the aisle on that. Look forward to today's question and answer. Ambassador, we are glad you are here. Please proceed.
▶ 0:29:47Mr. Greer: Thank you, ranking member wyden, chairman crapo, the rest of the committee. Thank you for keeping in touch with me as we prioritize our consultation with congress during this busy time for trade policy.
▶ 0:30:02Mr. Greer: The president trade policy in 2020 five was characterized by a national emergency, 1.2 trillion dollars trade deficit which had exploded 40% in the prior four years, industrial base to support our national security and economic competitiveness adequately let alone support a strong middle class. That national emergency still persists and our policy remains the same. The specific authority is this in ministries and is using have changed but the trade strategy has not.
▶ 0:30:28Mr. Greer: We are committed to continuing to use tariffs and to negotiate deals to support the re-industrialization of our economy, protect american workers and increase their wages, shrink our trade deficit. The problems the president trades policy six to solve our generational. These things were not broken in a day and will not be fixed overnight but they must be fixed. This is why I'm pleased to report the combination of tariffs and deals core to the president trade policy has yielded impressive results.
▶ 0:30:55Mr. Greer: The united states currently has 19 framework or reciprocal trade deals covering 32% of global gross domestic product. Here is one in my hand, and deal with indonesia, there are an excess, tariff schedules, all the things they'll be reducing for the united states. I have a dozen more deals like this. The new market access secured in these deals are in the production they offer has been a boon to our producers.
▶ 0:31:20Mr. Greer: Goods and services experts have marked the highest monthly levels on record in american history from february through may of this year. Everyone said trade would collapse. We have never exported as much as we are now. Cap in a goods represent the largest share of our imports ever, accounting for 33% of imports in 2025, 40% this year. We have shifted the bulk of our imports from consumer goods and autos to things we need to scale the reindustrialization like machine tools, injection molding equipment, computer equipment.
▶ 0:31:51Mr. Greer: The united states does not stop trading with the world but the composition has changed in a way that benefits americans. We are selling more to the world because of our increased capacity to reduce and our imports are the kinds of goods that help us produce even more here in america. These dynamics have helped us to reduce our trade deficit. After the introduction of the president's trade program, the U.S. trade deficit for the 12 months ending in may 2020 six decreased by 24% compared with the same period a year earlier.
▶ 0:32:21Mr. Greer: Instead of an annual 8% increase in the trade deficit be experienced under president biden, under president trump, that rate slowed substantially and is being reversed. Agricultural trade, the story is even better. President biden left office with a monthly trade deficit of six point 2 billion. Under president trump, it is under 3 billion and we are on the road to an era cultural trade surplus again. Services experts have taken advantage of new market access. A record high.
▶ 0:32:51Mr. Greer: A large part of the change in our trade deficit is due to reduced dependence on china. Our trade deficit and goods with china fell to 200 billion in 2025, the lowest it's been since 2000 five. China's share of total U.S. imports fell to about 9%, the lowest it's been since china joined the wto in 2001. These trends are good for our economy and national security but really good for the individual workers and the families that make up that economy.
▶ 0:33:19Mr. Greer: Real manufacturing worker pay has increased by over 2000 dollars after falling over $800. Manufacturer important to research by 2.4% in the last quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. Manufacturing wages increased. The average american manufacturing worker is producing more goods and getting paid more to do it and there are over half a million open manufacturing jobs, so there's lots of opportunity here.
▶ 0:33:48Mr. Greer: The consumer price index fell 0.4%, the largest decline since april 2020, far below the expectations. Core inflation was 2.6 percent year-over-year, down from 3.3% in january of 2025. Better than market expectations. I'm looking forward to talking to you more about our section 301 investigations, where we are with usmca, our critical minerals, and a variety of other initiatives we have.
▶ 0:34:17Mr. Greer: I want to close with this thought payment fundamentally all of these initiatives in the trade policy overall aim to answer the question of what should our economy should look like. For president trump in this administration, the answer is clear. We want an economy that is resilient from shocks and not dependent on foreign production. We want an economy with an increased level of manufacturing, certainty of food security and a robust services sector. We want an economy benefiting from an economic system that promotes fair nest and balance.
▶ 0:34:54Mr. Greer: An economy that looks like this is one everyone supports I'm sure. I look forward to our conversation today and working with you to make sure this is a reality.
▶ 0:35:02Sen. Wyden: Thank hi Mr. ambassador. Let me start with the proposition that seems to me on tariffs the administration has lost the plot. In particular let's look at what happened in the last couple of days, a few days ago, canada, our closest neighbor basically learned they were going to get 50% tariffs.
▶ 0:35:25Sen. Wyden: At the same time, when it comes to china, one of the biggest trade cheats there is, the administration rolls out the red carpet, standing up a so-called board of trade to lower tariffs on goods from china. Looks like he has thrown in the towel. A couple questions, yes or no. When the new tariff on canada takes effect, will canada have higher tariffs than china on some products?
▶ 0:35:50Mr. Greer: On a small handful, china is by far much higher than canada over all. No question.
▶ 0:35:59Sen. Wyden: Let me work through that math. The 50% tariff is higher than a number of tariffs on china.
▶ 0:36:07Mr. Greer: We have 100% tariffs on ev's coming from china, 45 to 50% on most things coming from china. A small handful of goods, 20 billion dollars worth of goods coming from canada.
▶ 0:36:23Sen. Wyden: The question is, are there some areas where the canadian tariffs are higher than china? Seems to me that 50% would be accurate.
▶ 0:36:33Mr. Greer: We can do an analysis because we have stacking tariffs on china that don't apply to other countries. Overall, china is by far subject to very high tariffs.
▶ 0:36:43Sen. Wyden: We look forward to having that information on the record. Our staff believes there are instances where canadians will pay higher tariffs than the chinese are. That's not right. I want to ask next about something that has been an interest of mine since my days with the great panthers, farmers pricing. You negotiated with the u.k. For their drug companies to pay 25% more money for new medicine.
▶ 0:37:11Sen. Wyden: It looks to me, and this is a field I worked in for a long time, you negotiated a deal to put more money into the pockets of big pharma. It looks like the drug companies again are just getting ahead. Trunk claims this extra money for big pharma will somehow lower drug costs for patients in the united states, but the deals between big pharma and the trump administration are completely secret. It seems to me if they were such good deals for people, it would be public.
▶ 0:37:42Sen. Wyden: My question to you is, and learned I like your answer as a yes or no. Will you push for release of the written agreements with these pharmaceutical companies?
▶ 0:37:53Mr. Greer: Senator, and domestic deals I don't have jurisdiction over those, so I don't have any role to play in that.
▶ 0:38:02Sen. Wyden: I knew people in the administration who have responsibility in trade. To push for the release of these written details. This is a question of yes or no. Will you use your office to push for release of that written data? You have been involved in some aspects of pharmaceutical.
▶ 0:38:22Mr. Greer: Our deals with foreign countries are public. If there is a domestic deal to lower prices, that is up to other agencies, hhs, others. I'm happy to bring your concern to those other agencies.
▶ 0:38:35Sen. Wyden: I am glad you are bringing my concern. We will talk more about this. I want to make sure people in the administration are pushing for release of that data. The american people have a right to know if they were lowering prices for consumers. I think it will be trumpeted from the mountaintop. I want people in the administration who will push for that release. We will talk further about it. Mr. chairman, I finished my opening statement and questions. We have a list of members.
▶ 0:39:08Sen. Wyden: I gather we may be able to give you the power.
▶ 0:39:10Chair Crapo: Thank you, Mr. chairman. Again, sorry I had to step out. I do have your opening statement, familiar with your statement. My first question, ambassador, is there our committee's february usmca hearing, my colleagues made clear on a bipartisan basis that the usmca is vital to our economy and should be fully enforced.
▶ 0:39:40Chair Crapo: What do you view as a realistic timeline for conclusion of the usmca negotiations that are currently underway, keeping in mind the importance of business certainty?
▶ 0:39:48Mr. Greer: Thank you, chairman. I appreciate the frequent conversations we've had both you and I and with the committee on usmca. After this hearing, I'm actually flying to mexico city to meet with president sheinbaum, secretary burrard, the team is down there negotiating. We are moving with all due speed on this.
▶ 0:40:13Mr. Greer: There are some issues in usmca which take a longer time to address. Issues that are quite important. Some of these are related to rules of origin. We want rules of origin in usmca to be strong to incentivize production in north america as opposed to other regions that have a lot of excess capacity. It does take time to develop these.
▶ 0:40:37Mr. Greer: Similarly, I've heard from folks also in congress about the need to strengthen labor, environment. This can take time as well. I'm hopeful before the end of the year we can have at least option for president trump and the leaders of canada and/or mexico to consider potential interim arrangements, things that canada can do on the one hand, mexico can do on the other hand, to strengthen enforcement, to improve their commitments
▶ 0:41:07Mr. Greer: Toward us and to make sure we are managing all the trade issues. Between now and the end of the year, I would love to have arrangements, one with canada, mexico, and in these issues that are important, rules of origin, rules of the environment are important to people here, further discussion of that, including with congress and the following year.
▶ 0:41:26Chair Crapo: I appreciate your focus on this. It is a very high priority for us. Next, market access for U.S. agriculture exports is also as you know one of my top priorities. The administration's agreements on reciprocal trade include many very important market acts of provisions. Can you provide a status update on the implementation and entry into force of these agreements?
▶ 0:41:52Mr. Greer: Certainly. Some countries such as argentina and cambodia have already started the process of removing tariffs. Cambodia has already removed all of its tariffs for us. We have some smaller markets that are not huge for us like north macedonia that have removed all of their tariffs. I had the malaysian trade minister in my office yesterday and we talked about their timeframe. They are looking to the fall to put through the changes.
▶ 0:42:23Mr. Greer: They are reducing all of their tariffs to zero, removing non-tariff barriers that have been a problem for us for a long time. Indonesia is in a similar position in the fall looking to implement fully all of their commitments. We have a number of these agreements in place. We have an agreement with jordan we signed yesterday, they have already taken action to further liberalize their market toward us.
▶ 0:42:50Mr. Greer: Israel has just passed an agreement to accept american standards. A variety of these countries have already implemented, others are going through the domestic processes. Importantly, we have the eu that lower their industrial tariff to zero and provided a number of quotas for american farmers earlier this month.
▶ 0:43:08Chair Crapo: Thank you. Finally, what assurances and steps is ustr taking to ensure that these commitments are durable and enforced over time?
▶ 0:43:22Mr. Greer: Enforcement is so important to our administration, I know it's important to this committee. Trade enforcement means tariffs. Even when you have dispute settlement or a foreign process that goes on for years, at the end of the day, if you win, a tariff is the implementing sanction if you don't do this. We expect these countries to implement. We expect in the future these countries will retain these agreements because they have made them to the united states of america.
▶ 0:43:53Mr. Greer: As long as I'm here, you can count on me to use whatever tools I have two enforce these agreements. My hope is any successor would take a strong approach to enforcing these agreements.
▶ 0:44:03Chair Crapo: Senator grassley.
▶ 0:44:12Sen. Grassley: In agriculture, very much a problem for the family farmer. I want to complement the president for delaying the 18% duties on morocco phosphate coming into our country so that mosaic has some competition.
▶ 0:44:42Sen. Grassley: They have 85% of the market already. We have two suppliers of ammonia. Can we get a commitment to working with our trading partners to increase the availability of fertilizer generally for U.S. farmers, but most importantly removing any tariffs anhydrous ammonia? In other words, we have to get a bigger supply.
▶ 0:45:11Sen. Grassley: You cannot just have two companies dominating the whole market of nitrogen for corn farmers.
▶ 0:45:18Mr. Greer: Thank you, senator. I know this is an important issue for you through the program the president has had. He has been very nuanced on the fertilizer supply chain, and we will work with you to make sure if there are areas where we need more nuance, we will do that. We appreciate your attention to this. We want to strike the right balance between emphasizing domestic production which gives our farmers security.
▶ 0:45:43Mr. Greer: We don't want to be relying on a country like china which shuts fertilizer exports at will, or have our producers be subject to devastating subsidies from other countries. We want fair competition, whether it comes from import or made domestically. We want to have a level playing field, make sure our farmers of the inputs they need at a price that makes them competitive and that they can maintain their farms. I agree with you on these issues.
▶ 0:46:10Sen. Grassley: If you want to increase supply, get mosaic to quit shutting down plants they have with their phosphate production. Let's go to china. They have placed unfair export restrictions on fertilizer products, upsetting global markets for fertilizer. What can you do to get the chinese to remove these export restrictions in future trade negotiations with china?
▶ 0:46:36Mr. Greer: China, as we all know, economic policies are closely tied to their political policies. They are not a free market economy, I don't think there will be anytime soon. They like to weaponize these types of things. Sometimes they do it to control their own supply. I hear you talk about we want supply for our farmers. They are desperate we try to be food secure themselves.
▶ 0:47:07Mr. Greer: I don't countenance them in their weaponization. We can talk to them about it, we can raise it with them, but the chinese have their own goals which are not the goals of capitalists or free-marketers. Their goal is to have their own supply chain come control fertilizer for their own use. They will weaponize it at will. We have a working relationship with them. We have been able to get concessions with them. If it is important, I will raise it with them, but we should be realistic about those possibilities.
▶ 0:47:36Sen. Grassley: Usmca has showed his values to the economies of all three countries because it has dramatically improved the economies of the countries and increased trade that has happened. All segments of the economy in all countries but particularly for agriculture it's been very good. We fail to reach an agreement on mexican tomato exports.
▶ 0:48:07Sen. Grassley: The mexican government then launched an investigation into unfair trade practices of the U.S. pork industry. Ahead of further negotiations with mexico this week, what is ustr doing to make sure I will pick farmers -- we are number one in the production of pork, so we don't get caught up in the crossfire, trade retaliation.
▶ 0:48:31Mr. Greer: Fortunately, mexico has not retaliated against us. I know they have an open investigation on pork. I have raised this repeatedly with my counterpart. The mexicans are quite pragmatic, they are dependent on our market for their growth and employment. That is why we are able to proceed in a fairly nondramatic way with the mexicans.
▶ 0:48:54Mr. Greer: They understand if they take action on pork, the consequences for them could be quite challenging, given their dependence on us. This is something that is important to me, something I have raised at the highest levels with the mexican government. We are monitoring this. If we see any movement on this, we will work with you and do the necessary to maintain an open market that we've been able to enjoy over the past several years.
▶ 0:49:18Chair Crapo: Senator bennet.
▶ 0:49:22Sen. Bennet: Thank you, Mr. chairman. I want to thank you and the ranking german for having this committee. Thank you for coming back to the committee. As everybody I hope knows, we are in a moment of real crisis for our family farmers and four ranchers all over the country, including in colorado.
▶ 0:49:46Sen. Bennet: American farm bureau federation projects substantial losses for major crops this year including soybeans, corn, wheat, with many others far below their breakeven point, financial strain that is made worse by president trump's trade policies. Now, ambassador greer, after more than a century, we are on the verge of losing our position as the world's leading agricultural exporter.
▶ 0:50:17Sen. Bennet: I know you've talked about the need to resurrect american manufacturing through tariffs and other means, but american agriculture remains globally competitive. This is not an industry that we are struggling to bring back. It's been a consistent source of american growth and american jobs for decades. American products can be found on grocery shelves all over the world but many operators today are operating on thinner margins than ever before in part because of the input costs you were talking about.
▶ 0:50:49Sen. Bennet: The next generation of farmers is struggling to start out or take over family operations. This is a crisis. That makes stable and reliable trade policy more important than ever. Canada and mexico, as you know, purchased nearly $60 billion in U.S. agriculture products each year. They are our two largest agricultural export markets and among the most important markets for colorado. The usmca provides the foundation for this trade.
▶ 0:51:19Sen. Bennet: At a time when our farmers are already stretched thin, we should be working to strengthen these trading relationships, not creating more doubt about access to our two most important markets. Ambassador greer, can you commit that american farmers will not lose market access in canada or mexico as a result of your approach to usmca negotiations?
▶ 0:51:45Sen. Bennet: And how are you approaching the risk of retaliatory tariffs from canada now that you have imposed 50% duties on a wide range of products that were previously exempt? What economic effects do you anticipate you are creating for farmers and ranchers as a result of those tariffs?
▶ 0:52:03Mr. Greer: For context, when president trump left office, we had a ag trade surplus.
▶ 0:52:12Sen. Bennet: With respect, that is not an answer to my question, nor is it an answer to the courses that our farmers are facing. That is irrelevant to the discussion. Mr. chairman, may I ask my question, please? Could he answer the question?
▶ 0:52:31Sen. Bennet: The surplus and a deficit as a result of the fact that you have made it more expensive for us to buy products from other places, and it has absolute nothing to do with the question I'm asking you, which is, are you going to use the negotiation with the usmca to make sure that we are improving the position of our farmers and ranchers with our closest trading partners, rather than continue to undermine their position, which has been undermined from the very
▶ 0:53:02Sen. Bennet: Beginning of this administration until today? That is the question. A partisan discussion about barden versus trump, that is not what our farmers and ranchers are looking for. By the way, speaking of free-market capitalism, I will tell you what they are also not looking for. Another direct payment from this administration to try to make up for the screwed up trade policies that it has followed with respect to agriculture.
▶ 0:53:28Sen. Bennet: So I have asked you a respectful question with respect to the usmca. Please answer that question.
▶ 0:53:34Mr. Greer: 100% we are maintaining that market access because we have to dig out of this deficit that we were left with. We have expanded -- we are keeping market access in canada and mexico. I talked with my canadian counterpart yesterday. They didn't say they would retaliate on what they are doing. The mexicans and know we have to keep access there. The nature of all of our trade deals has been expanding market access for our farmers, maintaining and expanding.
▶ 0:54:01Sen. Bennet: When you are talking about the open market in north macedonia, I am sure you are proud of that. The reality is, we are now losing our global leadership to brazil as a result of the failed trade policies with respect to china. And the punishment they have taken is a punishment against our farmers and ranchers in this country and american leadership when it comes to agriculture.
▶ 0:54:32Sen. Bennet: That is the result of this trade policy, and I hope we do strengthen it with respect to the usmca, and that you'll reconsider the broader picture as well. This isn't just about that trade deficit. It's about what is happening on family farms all over the united states of america. Thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 0:54:50Chair Crapo: Senator whitehouse.
▶ 0:54:55Sen. Whitehouse: Thanks very much. Welcome, ambassador greer. We have had conversation before about foreign companies gaining trade advantage by being allowed to pollute, to lower pollution standards that we require at home.
▶ 0:55:21Sen. Whitehouse: Your entire team has repeatedly said, that kind of behavior is a proper occasion for a tariff adjustment. Do you still believe that?
▶ 0:55:30Mr. Greer: I do believe that, yes.
▶ 0:55:33Sen. Whitehouse: Ok, good. Multiple united states administrations have had a problem with enforcing environmental requirements in our trade agreements. I have condemned I think every administration since I've been here for crap enforcement -- excuse my language -- of environmental requirements.
▶ 0:56:05Sen. Whitehouse: I understand that you are trying to improve on that. Could you describe the improvements you are pursuing?
▶ 0:56:11Mr. Greer: Thank you, senator. Grateful for your leadership on this issue where we have a lot of agreement. One of the things we are doing as we are concluding these agreements on reciprocal trade is we are including requirements that countries raise their environmental standards to at least meet the bare minimum, so we can have a level playing field. That is one thing we are doing.
▶ 0:56:35Mr. Greer: More recently on brazil, we've had complaints for years, including from members on this committee, about brazil's deforestation practices which gives them an unfair advantage over our farmers. We have taken section 301 action on deforestation in brazil. Those are just a couple of things we are doing.
▶ 0:56:54Sen. Whitehouse: Continued to raise your game, our game from this country, it's been on the floor as always. This is a rear area of agreement. I think bipartisan. Keep going at it. On the question of tariff refunds, rhode island is a small business state.
▶ 0:57:17Sen. Whitehouse: I think everyone has conceded that americans actually end up paying the cost of president trump's tariffs, which is why there are refunds going back. I have two concerns. We have spoken about this before. I have two concerns about the refund situation.
▶ 0:57:38Sen. Whitehouse: One, if you are a giant corporation and you have an enormous staff that is capable of being tasked to go and pursue tariff refunds through cbp, great, you can go and get your refunds. If you are a small business that got whacked by a tariff, it is not easy.
▶ 0:58:01Sen. Whitehouse: And if you are that huge business that went back and got your tariff refund, there is no obligation that you push it through to your customers who actually ended up paying it along the line. It could just end up in corporate profits, ceo bonuses, and all about.
▶ 0:58:20Sen. Whitehouse: Could you ask going when you are doing to try to make sure the tariff refund process is more open to small businesses, and to make sure the tariff refund is paid for by consumers initially are not just pocketed by ceos as bonuses?
▶ 0:58:33Mr. Greer: Thank you, senator. First of all, customs and border protection operates a website portal, from what I understand, it is -- it has a relatively straightforward user interface. If there was an importer of record, whether for an importer of record or a U.S. one, if they were able to file with cbp to pay a tariff, they can use this new website to recuperate it.
▶ 0:59:02Mr. Greer: If there is a company that is able to pay a tariff, they can use the website to get it back. If you have specific constituents that have had a challenge with that, let me know. We will connect them with cbp. On your other point, I don't concede the tariffs went through to consumers. A lot of them are eaten by foreign companies. A lot of them were diluted in the supply chain. Sir, may I?
▶ 0:59:29Sen. Whitehouse: No, you cannot because I'm the one that has a limited time here. You are here all day. That is why I want to jump back in. If it is not paid by the american side, it would make no sense to be making refunds. Just your behavior with tariff refunds proves the point that it is not just paid by foreigners or foreign government or china or whomever. Let me make that point.
▶ 0:59:56Sen. Whitehouse: Last, let me say, americans are having a real cost problem. I think some of that relates to the tariff decisions. Anybody who has a small business or is going to buy something that has a component that is manufactured in canada that the house has a 50% at a cost associated with it I think is going to have a real problem.
▶ 1:00:18Sen. Whitehouse: I think it is in your interest, the administration, to reduce the burden on american consumers by reducing the level of inordinate tariff assessments. So, good luck with that.
▶ 1:00:36Chair Crapo: Thank you. Senator cornyn.
▶ 1:00:41Sen. Cornyn: Ambassador greer, on july 1, the U.S. formally declined to renew the usmca during the joint review, yet, as you know, it remains in effect essentially with an annual review process. What are we to make of the administration's decision to decline to renew the usmca?
▶ 1:01:03Mr. Greer: Senator, when you look at july 1, the options are, you can rubberstamp the agreement and renew it without further revisions, or you can enter into this period where we declined to renew and see if there are ways to improve the trading relationship. You should look at it in the latter way.
▶ 1:01:26Mr. Greer: President trump already, last year, some of the problems he sees in usmca and outcomes, exploding trade deficit with mexico, not enough auto investment in the U.S., some of those problems he's already started to address with the section 232 action on autos. But there are lots of things we need to cover with mexico like rules of origin. We want to make sure any unofficial trade between our countries benefits are countries, and not a third country like vietnam or china.
▶ 1:01:56Sen. Cornyn: So the administration wants to make it better?
▶ 1:02:00Mr. Greer: We want to improve our trading relationship with canada and mexico. There are some what I would call loadbearing pillars in usmca, things that we don't think about in terms of ag market access, a variety of things but we have unseen issues, but where we have seen issues, we are in the process of fixing it to make sure we have more production in the U.S.
▶ 1:02:22Sen. Cornyn: As you know, mexico has consistently not lived up to its obligations under the 1944 water treaty with the united states. I appreciate the work the trump administration has done to bring them into compliance at least on a temporary basis.
▶ 1:02:39Sen. Cornyn: But because this is for a period of five years, the term to comply with the requirements of the treaty, it leaves our farmers high and dry when they don't comply on a regular basis. Is there any way the joint review process could reinforce those compliance accountability for mexico to help safeguard our farmers in south texas?
▶ 1:03:05Mr. Greer: First of all, this is largely a state department jurisdiction issue because of the treaty, usda helps, we monitor it because people have expressed interest. During the review process, it's clear from president trump's perspective, if we want to have a beneficial trading relationship with mexico and have some kind of arrangement with them, they also need to be playing ball on this issue.
▶ 1:03:34Mr. Greer: Obviously, there are a lot of issues not in my wheelhouse, but the president will have a hard time agreeing to renewal or revisions is mexico is not playing ball on all areas, and the water treaty is one of them.
▶ 1:03:46Sen. Cornyn: One of the things china has done over the years is creating a dependency on it for things like rare earth element processing. Now, roughly 90% of the rare earth processing occurs in china.
▶ 1:04:10Sen. Cornyn: I know there have been some efforts made to provide alternative sources, diversification of sources for the united states and other countries. What is the status of the current negotiations with china on the U.S. access to process critical minerals and rare earths?
▶ 1:04:29Mr. Greer: Senator, they have had a commitment since last may to expedite export control process, processing export control application for U.S. companies including those that are routed through third countries. We are getting a flow of critical minerals from china. It is not as much would walk, not at the pace we would want, but we are getting a majority of what we need.
▶ 1:04:59Mr. Greer: We have regular meetings and calls with chinese officials at all levels. We of course maintain substantial leverage over them to make sure they do this. We have a variety of trade tools that we have used, some are suspended, some in effect, that we can use to make sure they comply. Most importantly, we are accelerating domestic production to try to get away from that dependency.
▶ 1:05:23Sen. Cornyn: I presume you would answer roughly the same when it come to the active ingredients in generic pharmaceuticals?
▶ 1:05:30Mr. Greer: At this point, there are not controls on those active ingredients, we have not had an issue getting those. But a dependency, yes, you saw the president sent out a message last night about a trade policy he wants to implement to accelerate the production of generic pharmaceuticals here, in addition to the patented drugs coming online here.
▶ 1:05:51Chair Crapo: Thank. Senator daines.
▶ 1:05:59Sen. Daines: Welcome to the committee, good to have you here. Last november, there was an historic dinner at the white house, all five central asian presidents and their corresponding foreign ministers on one side of the table. I was there with the president, vice president, secretary bessent, secretary rubio, as well as ambassador gore, for an historic moment in the white house, these great central asian countries developing a closer
▶ 1:06:29Sen. Daines: Relationship with united states. As you know, geopolitically, a tough part of the world surrounded by russia, afghanistan, iran, china. By the way, one of the top issues they brought up that night at that dinner was a repeal of the antiquated jackson-vanik provision. It is an embarrassment the united states maintains these trade restrictions associated with jackson-vanik.
▶ 1:07:00Sen. Daines: Kazakhstan, uzbekistan, tajikistan, turkmenistan, and then azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is officially a part of the c6. We are pulling that group together as they work with the united states. This jackson-vanik research and is an ancient relic of soviet era days that long ago ceased serving any useful purpose.
▶ 1:07:23Sen. Daines: It's become a barrier to deepening america's relationship with this most strategic region and again it was the issue they brought up with president trump when we had dinner in november. Ambassador greer, I know you been engaged in that part of the world, very important. Would you support the efforts to repeal these antiquated trade restrictions?
▶ 1:07:43Mr. Greer: Senator, thank you for your leadership on this issue. I have spent time in this area. If this is something important to congress on my sense is we are supportive. We are focused on establishing reciprocal trade with countries. Uzbekistan has offered to open up their market to us, given substantial market access to reduce tariffs, during my trip a couple weeks ago.
▶ 1:08:10Mr. Greer: If this process goes along with these countries agreeing to open their markets to us, that is a complement tree effort we can support.
▶ 1:08:16Sen. Daines: This is tied to some jewish immigration issues from the soviet union days. The embarrassing part of this, there are three kinds that remain after we get this bill through. Chris murphy is my democrat cosponsor on this. It is bipartisan. The remaining countries would be cuba, belarus, and north korea. This is the embarrassing part of the jackson-vanik provision.
▶ 1:08:45Sen. Daines: We have these countries working closely with us now in central asia and the south caucuses, yet there in the same list as north korea, cuba, belarus. We hope we can get this done before the end of the year. Appreciate your support on that. I know secretary rubio and the administration supports this. You recently traveled to central asia and conducted negotiations with friends in the region. Could you talk about the progress your team has made in kazakhstan and uzbekistan?
▶ 1:09:14Mr. Greer: Yes, I will talk about uzbekistan first because I have interacted with that country the most. I just got back from a visit there, met with the president and his staff. These are serious people who are changing their economy. It is much more western oriented. You land and when you see the central square, they have a giant coke bottle, a mockup of the love statue from philadelphia.
▶ 1:09:42Mr. Greer: This is a country that wants to be western oriented, not just in that kind of thing, but especially in economics. They have offered to open their market to us, they've given us a robust market opportunity on a number of things that are important to us. This is a country of 40 million people, which people don't realize. It's a real market. They are hungry for american goods. It's a real opportunity.
▶ 1:10:09Mr. Greer: Kazakhstan in the area is an interesting partner especially because they have a lot of the critical minerals that we seek. As you mentioned, it's a rough neighborhood. I don't think we want to shift dependency from one place to kazakhstan, but you want to diversify. There is parts of the administration are working with kazakhstan to explore critical mineral opportunities in that country.
▶ 1:10:31Sen. Daines: They share the largest border of any country with russia, china to the east, and ran to the south. Thank you for your work in that area. Jimmy carter's national security advisor, then the advisor for ronald reagan, said central asia is the wine bottle of the caucuses. The great work the president has done, brokering a peace deal between armenia and azerbaijan, opening up that opportunity for us.
▶ 1:11:01Sen. Daines: Last, I want to talk briefly on palladium. There are chief -- 32 producers. Russia, south africa, montana. The russians are dumping palladium below prices here in the united states. It cost 700 workers in montana to lose their job. They are under the assault of russian market manipulation to knock them out of business. This brazen assault on U.S. national security and hard-working montana minors cannot be allowed to stand.
▶ 1:11:29Sen. Daines: Would you support taking corrective action to end russia's market many collation and make sure we got montana minors on the job to ensure we get this critical mineral to support this industry?
▶ 1:11:42Mr. Greer: I am supportive anywhere here where there is a distorted market, we want to get that fixed. We want to make sure our minors have a critical -- level playing field, especially for things like palladium.
▶ 1:11:55Chair Crapo: Senator warren.
▶ 1:11:59Sen. Warren: Donald trump campaigned for office going out every day promising that he would lower cost for american families on day one. Then he takes office and he slaps tariffs on and off and on and off nearly every product we import. Americans are now paying for it.
▶ 1:12:22Sen. Warren: Based on an analysis from the congressional budget office and the treasury department's own numbers, trump's are costing families an average of $1700, and that was before his illegal war in iran pushed prices even higher.
▶ 1:12:40Sen. Warren: Ambassador greer, over a year ago, you sat in this very room, and my democratic colleagues and I asked you about trump's chaotic across tariffs and said they will drive up prices. You said, no, we can have tariffs and lower prices. Well, now we have the receipts. Let's just clear this up. Ambassador greer, have trumps tariffs increased prices for american families?
▶ 1:13:08Mr. Greer: Senator, no. Core inflation fell to 2.6% year on year, much better than in january 2025.
▶ 1:13:16Sen. Warren: So you are saying what the congressional budget office and the treasury department's own numbers that families are paying an average of 1700 dollars more, you are saying your own congressional budget office doesn't know what they're talking about?
▶ 1:13:31Mr. Greer: I'm interested to see what numbers you are looking at. Nobody has given them to me.
▶ 1:13:36Sen. Warren: They have been out there for at least the last six months, widely distributed, because families are paying more. There is no serious economist around the country, no serious person that looks at the numbers and thinks that families are doing better. Trumps tariffs mean that families have paid on average $1700 last year.
▶ 1:13:59Sen. Warren: Now the united states supreme court has said that those tariffs were illegal, and at the trump administration has to give people their money back. So far, the administration has been slow walking. Ambassador greer, our american consumers going to get any refunds on the tariffs that were illegally collected from them?
▶ 1:14:20Mr. Greer: Senator, when the court ruled on this, they did exactly what the democratic attorney generals who sued asked to do which was to give money back to the companies foreign and domestic the pain of the tariffs. That is a democratic attorney general asked to do. They didn't say give it to consumers.
▶ 1:14:38Sen. Warren: I understand how they got standing, but the question I'm asking the administration is, are you going to get money back to the american people who paid more? What the data the data show the people paid an average of $1,700.
▶ 1:15:01Sen. Warren: I want to know if you even have the slightest effort, making even the slightest effort to try to get some of that money back into the pockets of american families. Or does that just matter to the trump administration?
▶ 1:15:14Mr. Greer: So what happened is the foreign and domestic importers, right, who are buying foreign goods, not goods from american workers, foreign goods made by foreign workers who had to pay a fee on those foreign goods, they can file. They had to pay the tariff. They can get the tariff back. Manufacturing workers' wages have gone up $2,600, way beyond what the biden calculated.
▶ 1:15:40Sen. Warren: We know thousands of factory workers have lost their jobs. Their incomes have gone to zero. But I take it what you're saying, and that is the trump administration just doesn't care, isn't even lifting a finger to try to get one nickel of the money that we collected from consumers back into the pockets of the consumers. And that certainly is where they are right now.
▶ 1:16:05Sen. Warren: Instead, what you've been doing is searching for other ways to see if you can take money out of the pockets of consumers with tariffs. And just this week, you slapped new tariffs using an obscure law from the 1930's, plus using something called section 301, but here's my question.
▶ 1:16:24Sen. Warren: Ambassador greer, if the supreme court strikes down your next round of tariffs, do you have a plan in place for how to return the money that american consumers pay under those tariffs, how to return that money directly to the families who pay? You can do this now. Put a plan in place. Do you have a plan in place?
▶ 1:16:47Mr. Greer: Customs currently has a web sited to return any tariffs to the foreign importers of record, domestic importers who paid them, and they'll continue to do that.
▶ 1:16:55Sen. Warren: I'm asking about american families, the people you're supposed to be working for. Do you have any plan if this next round of tariffs is struck down for how you're going to get the money that is collected from american consumers back into their pockets?
▶ 1:17:08Mr. Greer: The normal way that customs law works is the importer of record, if they pay a tariff, they give it back. There's never been a need --
▶ 1:17:16Sen. Warren: Look, I believe tariffs can be used strategically, quite valuably. But what the trump administration is doing is picking the pockets of american consumers, and after donald trump promised he would lower costs on day one, he puts in place tariffs that have done nothing but raise prices for consumers. Thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:17:35Chair Crapo: Thank you. Senator smith?
▶ 1:17:38Sen. Smith: Thank you, Mr. chair, and ranking member, and good morning, ambassador greer. Ambassador greer, I am firmly in the camp that, as you and I have discussed that our trade policy should support good jobs and domestic manufacturing, and that those trade policies should have strong labor and environmental standards.
▶ 1:17:58Sen. Smith: I appreciate what senator whitehouse was saying earlier, and that for too long our trade policy tilted too much toward making it easier for big corporations to send jobs overseas. And this is not, in my mind, a democratic or republican issue. I have criticized democratic administrations as well as republican ones for not getting this right. So with that in mind, I have two questions that I want to try to get to with you today. One is around sugar and takanite.
▶ 1:18:28Sen. Smith: As you know, minnesota produces nearly all of the raw iron ore pellets that goes into production. And that industry has struggled from time to time, as I'm sure you also know. We say layoffs on libbing taconite. Maybe about 600 total jobs gone because of what's been happening. So we have an opportunity to make this right here.
▶ 1:18:56Sen. Smith: For the workers in those mines and for those pellet plants on the iron range. And I think that we ought to be able to find some agreement on this. I'd like to work with you on this. So here's the opportunity, right? For years we've done the right thing and loveys tariffs on illegally dumped and subsidized steel coming into the countries, coming into the united states from countries like china. But we haven't always done the right thing for taconite pellets that feed the steel miles.
▶ 1:19:27Sen. Smith: The united states finds itself currently importing from foreign sources at the same time that these mines in minnesota are idle. So my question is, do you think, ambassador greer, is there a way we can think about this situation and get at this, and what are the opportunities to use our trade tools to support domestic taconite from the illegal and unfair trade practices hurting minnesota's iron range?
▶ 1:19:53Mr. Greer: Yes, and I appreciate your leadership on this issue. This is something where we can and should work together. I have spoken with some of these companies that are operating and want to operate in northern minnesota. I think there are trade tools we can use, because we are so import-dependent right now on some of these inputs. I think if we phase something in in a short period of time to signal to the market domestic taconite is where it's at and where it's going to be, so we can wean ourselves off over time.
▶ 1:20:22Sen. Smith: I would really like to work wow that, because I think it is an opportunity. The cycling of the taconite industry are a big burden, and I think we can be honest, there's no doubt that the way that the tariff regime has affected other manufacturing sectors in the united states, you might argue in the short run, I would maybe argue differently, has had an impact on demand for domestic steel as well. I think there's an opportunity here. Let me see if I can get to the sugar question as well. You know about this as well.
▶ 1:20:53Sen. Smith: You and I have talked about this. Minnesota is one of the number one sugar beet-producing states in the nation, supporting over 20,000 jobs and a $3 billion economic impact, just in minnesota. It's struggling right now. As you no doubt know, we had a situation where there is a glut of global supply from subsidized sugar, that sugar can be sold into the united states with the tariff, after tariff quota, and
▶ 1:21:24Sen. Smith: It's still sold in the united states at lower than the cost of goods sold for domestic sugar producers, and this is causing a lot of struggle in northwestern part of the state, where producers are trying to figure out, do I sell my shares in the co-op or do I plant beets I know I'm going to lose men on for the time being? Can you address this, ambassador?
▶ 1:21:52Sen. Smith: As you know, we sold, excuse me, senator hoeven, I believe crapo signed this letter as well, raised this with you and secretary rollins about the opportunities to open a section 301 investigation into this.
▶ 1:22:07Mr. Greer: Yes, senator, again, this is an area where we have worked together. I have conferred with the chairman, even the ranking member on these issues, on sugar. So we are working very closely with the domestic industry right now to try to assess their view of the unfair trading practices that might persist overeast. That's the legal basis for any section 301. We're committed to working with them, gathering a lot of information from them right now, because we want to see action too.
▶ 1:22:32Sen. Smith: That's great. Timing is of the essence, and I look forward to a more full report and look forward to working with my colleagues on that. Thank you.
▶ 1:22:43Chair Crapo: Senator cortez masto.
▶ 1:22:45Sen. Cortez Masto: Ambassador, good to see you. Thank you for being here. I want to talk about the aerospace and aviation industries. As you well know, they're critical to our country and supporting both our national defense and our tourism economy. I've been hearing concerns from many in this industry that the section 232 investigation into imports of aircraft and aircraft parts is chilling investment and threat continuing some aerospace jobs.
▶ 1:23:15Sen. Cortez Masto: The administration hasn't yet shown the public any results of these investigations. Do you intend to release these investigations?
▶ 1:23:24Mr. Greer: Thank you, senator. This is a critical supply chain where we're quite focused. The investigation you're talking about is on commerce. I'll tell you what I know about it and refer to you commerce, of course, about 10 days ago the president signed an action in this investigation, saying, listen, this is critical, we are worried about imports. However, we would much rather negotiate with countries, potential landing zones on this. Because it is so sensitive.
▶ 1:23:54Sen. Cortez Masto: I recognize this, but you're actually negotiating these trade agreements based on these reports, correct?
▶ 1:24:03Mr. Greer: We work with the commerce department to get their input, so like any negotiation --
▶ 1:24:08Sen. Cortez Masto: These reports are critical to your negotiations in trade, collect
▶ 1:24:12Mr. Greer: Yes.
▶ 1:24:13Sen. Cortez Masto: At some point in time they're required under the law to be public. I guess that's my question. I'm assuming your access to this information is the result of an investigation that's been completed, because you need it for trade negotiation. So once it's completed, it should be available to the american public. And that's my question. It may not be within your authority to release it. Maybe the commerce department.
▶ 1:24:38Sen. Cortez Masto: But I would hope that you would convince them that they should at least follow the law and release these reports to the american people, and quite honestly, congress has the results of these as well.
▶ 1:24:49Mr. Greer: I'll raise it with the commerce secretary.
▶ 1:24:51Sen. Cortez Masto: I appreciate that. Let me ask you about something we have talked about quite often, and this is tourism. You talk a lot about trade deficit and goods, which I so appreciate. But last year for the first time in decades, the U.S. experienced a trade deficit in our largest service export, and that's tourism. And after running a trade surplus in travel in 2024, we actually experienced a $14 bitcoin trade deficit in 2025.
▶ 1:25:21Sen. Cortez Masto: I had seen that in my home state of las vegas. We have seen that across the country, quite honestly. With your focus on the trade balance, what is your analysis of why this sharp drop in tourism has happened? Have you looked at this at all?
▶ 1:25:38Mr. Greer: You've talked to us about this before, so it's something that we think about, and it falls into that bucket of services. And you know, in the overall category of services, we never export more services before. But I know for you in las vegas particularly, this is an issue. You know, we're hopeful that with the world cup, we saw an up tick in the past couple of months.
▶ 1:26:00Mr. Greer: We think we've seen a lot of -- when I've asked even domestic industry about it, airlines, credit card folks who are doing this, they've seen a lot of internal and domestic. So whether it's imports of tourism or domestic tourism, I think my goal is to make sure that places like las vegas are up and running. I'm happy to work with you more on this to identify things we can do. We can work with the commerce department on tourism promotion. They have their own bureau to deal with it.
▶ 1:26:29Sen. Cortez Masto: I've introduced legislation to include a travel and tourism working group in the usmca. Would you submit to supporting that?
▶ 1:26:37Mr. Greer: I will, yes, 100%, yes.
▶ 1:26:39Sen. Cortez Masto: I appreciate that. Let me talk a little bit about critical minerals. I'm curious. You and I would both agree, critical minerals and critical mineral supply chain is important for this country, right? It's an area that I have worked in quite often in&talked to you about. And I appreciate your comments. Let me ask you this. Just if you can provide some information.
▶ 1:27:07Sen. Cortez Masto: Indonesia has long had a ban on the export of nickel ore, which has resulted in massive chinese investment in nickel refining in indonesia. Last july the white house released a jointed statement with indonesia regarding trade negotiations that said "indonesia will remove restrictions on exports to the united states of industrial commodities, including critical minerals." however, shortly after that release and that statement, indonesian officials, including the minister of economic
▶ 1:27:37Sen. Cortez Masto: Affairs, disputed that indonesia would open its exports of raw minerals to the U.S. again, there was another signing, a trade agreement in february, the white house made the statement statement, and and then indonesia again said no, that is not going happen. Can you let us know, is indonesia, are they agreeing to changing the clause regulations so that it will export raw ore to the? What is the status of that?
▶ 1:28:01Mr. Greer: This is really important to us too, and we want to hold indonesia's feet to the fire on this as well. What they have, like many countries, they have an export control regime, and they've committed to expedite that for us. You can imagine they don't want to be in a situation where everything they produce has to go to one country in the area, so they're trying to balance geopolitically what they're doing. They're working with us. We want a complaint about minnesota realize not being exported.
▶ 1:28:30Mr. Greer: We have a good working relationship with them. We have to keep their feet to the fire to have them live up to these agreements.
▶ 1:28:36Sen. Cortez Masto: Thank you. I know my time is up. Mr. chair, thank you.
▶ 1:28:39Chair Crapo: Thank you. Senator welch.
▶ 1:28:45Sen. Welch: Thank you.
▶ 1:28:51Sen. Welch: Thank you very much. Ambassador greer, first of all, I want to say that your office has been responsive when we had questions, and I quite appreciate that. But what I too want to take this opportunity to do is explain to you, whatever the intent of the tariffs are, it's really causing a lot of harm so far in vermont. Both the tariffs and the way in which they are changing quite a bit.
▶ 1:29:20Sen. Welch: I want to take the opportunity to tell you, because I know you're concerned about the well-being of small businesses. I know you're concerned about the well-being of everyday consumers. But the tariffs are really, really troublesome in vermont. Our tourism is down about 40%. A lot of that has to do with the rhetoric that the president has used, and I don't hold you responsible for that.
▶ 1:29:49Sen. Welch: But the governor of canada, that rhetoric has really inhibited canadians from coming down. Steve wright, the head of j.p., prominent resort in northern canada, got a call where 100 people from canada cancelled their trip to the U.S., to vermont.
▶ 1:30:12Sen. Welch: You can't do anything, I guess, about that, but I hope to the extent you can urge the president to speak in a much more courteous way toward our canadian neighbors, that's going to help us in vermont. The other thing we're hearing about, or I'm hearing about, canada is vermont's number one trade customer, $631 million worth of goods annually. 3,600 jobs in vermont. As a result of the tariffs, let me just give you some examples. I appreciate you listening.
▶ 1:30:43Sen. Welch: But I really want vermont to be heard as the concrete outcomes of what's happening and the way it's being done. A small business in western vermont, they rehab land rovers. For the first time in 50 years, they've had layoffs.
▶ 1:31:04Sen. Welch: Orvis, a world-renowned sports equipment, fishing company, has been forced to close over half its stores and has gone through multiple rounds of layoffs. Very heartbreaking for us in vermont.
▶ 1:31:21Sen. Welch: Jasper hill farms, an international, award-winning cheese maker, started by two young brothers in vermont, has now achieved distinction worldwide. And farm stead brewery, started by a sixth-generation young man, both of those have seen their overhead and equipment price double in price.
▶ 1:31:47Sen. Welch: They're losing business daily to canadians, because they don't come down for their visits to their companies. When the global tariffs were first announced in april of 2025, president trump excluded more than 1,000 products, without providing any rationale for why those specific products were listed.
▶ 1:32:17Sen. Welch: Those exemptions were made, it appears it was made because whoever was on the receiving end had the ability to contact somebody in the white house to get an exemption. Our vermonters don't have that telephone number. So we're just getting hit with these tariffs, and it looks like to some extent if you have access to the administration you may get an end-around and avoid them, which is really troubling to us in vermont.
▶ 1:32:46Sen. Welch: We are having trouble getting the refunds, I heard the exchange, and I know you have to follow the law. But just going through that has been really tough for us. I just want you to understand how tough this has been in vermont. We really value our relationship with canada, both emotionally, financially, and economically.
▶ 1:33:10Sen. Welch: In a way, the tariffs have changed constantly and recently, just two days ago the president announced new tariffs may go into effect. People just don't know what to count on. It's hurting us badly. I guess I'll end by just asking if you can give me some assurance that there will be more clarity and certainty to the tariff policy, and frankly, a respectful engagement, even if
▶ 1:33:40Sen. Welch: Negotiations are tough. But where we're treating canadians as the long-time friends of vermont that they've been. Thank you for listening, Mr. ambassador.
▶ 1:33:50Mr. Greer: I'll just briefly, because it's out of time, canada has benefited from the best trade agreement, even under the treatment, even under the president's trade policies since last april. The vast majority of what they're sending to us has come in preferentially. It has remained that way. It's been consistent that way. Even now with the tailored actions we took this week, we're fighting against a ban on american liquor on shelves. We're fighting against hard caps on export american cars.
▶ 1:34:20Mr. Greer: So we've never banned canadian products. We've never done that kind of thing. But we're fighting against caps on american cheese. I think about your cheese producers. They should be exporting more to canada. So we're trying to balance this relationship, have as much trade, liberal trade in north america is possible while protecting our producers. It's not going to happen overnight. We did not get into this problem overnight. It won't be fixed overnight. But I want to work with you. I'm happy to meet with them personally and talk to them.
▶ 1:34:52Mr. Greer: Sometimes it's there. Sometimes there are other things going on. But there are things we can do to try to soothe this process for them. I want to work with you.
▶ 1:34:59Chair Crapo: Thank you. Senator barrasso.
▶ 1:35:04Sen. Barrasso: Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr. ambassador. I want to talk about soda ash exports. We're home to the largest deposits of naturally occurly trona, a mineral that's refined into ash. Wyoming's top export supports thousands of jobs across the state, and the industry is facing a serious challenge. That's because earlier this year, producers in india petitioned their government to restrict imports of american soda ash.
▶ 1:35:32Sen. Barrasso: The result can be a hard limit on how much american soda ash can enter their market regardless of the price, regardless of the demand, and our soda ash producers can compete with anyone in the world on a level playing field. But we're worrying about what's happening in india, make sure we don't get the level playing field. Going to ask how you're working to ensure fair market access for american producers like soda ash in india.
▶ 1:35:54Mr. Greer: Thank you, senator, for raising this issue, which we've heard about from your staff. I have a good relationship with my counter part? India. We work close well their trade ministry. I will raise this with them next time. They have internal processes like we do, but we want to make sure any process they've is fair, that our producers are being traded fairly and get to the right answer. So we will advocate with them for your soda ash producers.
▶ 1:36:25Sen. Barrasso: Thank you. I wanted to switch to wyoming beef. Our ranchers produce the highest quality beef in the world. Beef is wyoming's top agriculture export. Nearly 150 million shipped around the world each year. Our ranchers faced barriers that kept them out of foreign markets. They have every right to compete in them. Through the administration's trade agenda, we're seeing some real change that we believe is more work to be done.
▶ 1:36:50Sen. Barrasso: There's still too many markets that are able to hide behind unscientific and discriminatory restrictions that put our ranchers at a disadvantage. So as you continue to negotiate new trade agreements, what more can you done to open markets for american beef anden sure that wyoming ranchers can compete on equal footing?
▶ 1:37:07Mr. Greer: Thank you, and to your point, we finally got australia to open up to american beef after 20 years of closure. We have a bunch of argentina and other south american countries that have facilitated this. We have gotten china now to agree to reregister beef production facilities. That's an area where we want to keep focusing, because I know a lot of the cuts that americans don't eat will go to china.
▶ 1:37:37Mr. Greer: So we had a call this week at the staff level, I'll have a call next week at my level, and we'll raise this to make sure that american beef producers can send some of those cuts over there.
▶ 1:37:48Sen. Barrasso: Thank you. I appreciate you doing the job in terms of highlighting american manufacturing job gains and wage growth. Did you it in your testimony, so congratulations on the success there. In wyoming, chemical manufacturing is driving much of our progress. Wyoming sends over a bitcoin dollars in chemical products across the world each year. Our producers are positioned to reach even more markets.
▶ 1:38:10Sen. Barrasso: So trade deals like the U.S.-mexico-canadian agreement have included commitments to reduce barriers in specific industries, like chemical manufacturing, progress has been limited. So how are you pushing trading partners to follow through on industry-specific commitments and open their markets to our manufacturers across the board?
▶ 1:38:30Mr. Greer: Senator, there are two ways we approach this as we negotiate. On the one hand, you have the tariff barriers, where we ask them remove tariffs, particularly on chemicals. That's why we have the european union, despite hundreds of years of working with these countries, finally we have an agreement they've actually lowered all of their tariffs on all industrial goods, including chemicals.
▶ 1:38:52Mr. Greer: And then there are nontariff barriers much for each country we give them a list of specific things, maybe regulatory, maybe certifications, and we ask them to simplify to allow them to do this. That's how we approach it.
▶ 1:39:03Sen. Barrasso: Let me finish with this question on the sheep industry. It's been part of our ranching heritage for longer than we've actually been a state. Earlier this year I raised concerns about surging land imports and the strains they're putting on wyoming sheep industry. Family-owned operations that have sustained rural communities in wyoming for generations are now fighting to survive.
▶ 1:39:24Sen. Barrasso: So I want to thank you for directing the international trade commission to investigate whether these imports are harming our domestic industry, and our producers deserve a fair chance to compete in their own market. Can you speak to how this investigation is expected to unfold and what you expect going forward?
▶ 1:39:41Mr. Greer: It's a safeguard investigation. I was in utah last week, and I met with farmers who literally were crying tears of joy that this had been initiated, so thank you for your advocacy. The I.t.c. Will initiate this investigation. They will ask the domestic industry and the importers for information so they can determine whether the surge of imports, is there serious injury to the domestic industry. If so, they can make a recommendation back to the president.
▶ 1:40:11Mr. Greer: We'll take action if appropriate.
▶ 1:40:14Sen. Bar: Thank you very much.
▶ 1:40:17Chair Crapo: Thank you. Senator warnock?
▶ 1:40:20Sen. Warnock: Donald trump promised "on day one" we will end inflation and make america affordable again. Instead, he's made life more expensive for everybody. That's even before his illegal war of choice sent energy prices through the roof. According to the fax foundation, treasury's tariffs cost households $1,000 last year and will cost them another $1,300 this year.
▶ 1:40:52Sen. Warnock: The new york fed found that in 2025, 90% tv economic burden from the tariffs were ultimately paid by american consumers businesses. A separate study concluded what americans already know, just by going to the grocery store. The tariffs raise prices for families and contributed to core inflation.
▶ 1:41:16Sen. Warnock: Welcome, ambassador greer, despite this mountain of evidence, you and the president still seem to be in denial that tariffs have raised prices, a fact that study after study confirms and is just basic common sense. Everybody sees it. We're feeling it. So here's my question.
▶ 1:41:34Sen. Warnock: Has the ustr ever produced any rigorous peer-evaluated study refuting the fact that the president's tariffs have contributed to inflation, or is your rebuttal to these conclusions just based on vibes, people's feelings, politics?
▶ 1:41:51Mr. Greer: So no, we don't do vibes, senator. The council on economic advisors, they've done analyses. We have seen in the last month, inflation drop by .4%. Core goods to 2.6%. Quite a contrast. Under biden time, 9% inflation. Vegas gown down. Do you want the data, sir? I'll give it to you here.
▶ 1:42:17Sen. Warnock: I have an answer to my actual question.
▶ 1:42:19Mr. Greer: I have data. I'm trying to give to you.
▶ 1:42:23Sen. Warnock: Have you ever produced a peer-evaluated study refuting this evidence?
▶ 1:42:28Mr. Greer: I literally have the data from the bureau of labor statistics, which has serious economists, year on year, the price of eggs has gone down 28%. Smartphones have gone down 1%.
▶ 1:42:41Sen. Warnock: That's not my question.
▶ 1:42:43Mr. Greer: I thought you wanted to know about the prices. They're down.
▶ 1:42:46Sen. Warnock: The point is that tariffs contributed to inflation. Prices are higher than they were when the president came into office. And tariffs made it worse. People all over georgia know that. Businesses know that.
▶ 1:43:00Sen. Warnock: And I'm asking you, I guess the answer to that is no, there's no peer-evaluated, rigorous study refuting this, giving me item by item what the price of eggs is doesn't take seriously the situation.
▶ 1:43:17Mr. Greer: It's what americans care about. They care about these prices and they're down.
▶ 1:43:22Sen. War Nook: Within 60 days, since you seem convinced that this is working and that tariffs have not driven up inflation, can you produce a formal rigorous study, say within the next 60 days, that disproves what all americans and economists believe to be true about the clear link between these tariffs and price increases? Can you produce that?
▶ 1:43:44Mr. Greer: Sir, we have substantial data. I'm happy to sit with you and talk about this, because I don't think a five-minute colloquy does it justice. I'm happy to talk to you. Everything in the grocery cart comes from america, produced here, duty-free.
▶ 1:43:58Sen. Warnock: Let's move on to one of the president's claims. He implemented tariffs to create what he promised would be a "manufacturing boom." meanwhile, we've lost at least 75,000 manufacturing jobs since this president has taken office. How many net manufacturing jobs should we expect to see created by the end of this term because of these tariffs? Keep in mind that we're already at a net negative of 75,000.
▶ 1:44:24Mr. Greer: In terms of data, so this year in 2006, we've had an average increase per month of 3,000 manufacturing jobs. In 2024, last year of biden, there was a negative 15,000 jobs per loss. So we've rightedded the ship on this and now we're in positive territory.
▶ 1:44:42Sen. Warnock: How much is due to data centers?
▶ 1:44:45Mr. Greer: You want to talk about construction now, ok. So factory construction has gone up. The employment in factory construction has gone up to 83,000, which is a huge benefit for our construction. Some is for computing. Some is for data, things that can --
▶ 1:45:01Sen. Warnock: Where do you expect to be at a net positive by 2030? Because right now we're --
▶ 1:45:09Mr. Greer: By 2030? Yes, because after covid, manufacturing jobs went back up when the economy opened back up, and then it plummeted under biden. We stabilize it had last year, and now we're net positive again. I expect the trend to continue if these policies continue.
▶ 1:45:28Sen. Warnock: Let me say why this is important. I'm talking to business leaders all across georgia, talking to consumers. One example is a company where they've had to lay off folks because they need a special type of steel that we don't make. And that steel is now subject to a 50% tariff. I could go on and on. I'm all for her manufacturing jobs, but these tariffs are raising costs, and everybody seems to know that except the current administration. Thank you.
▶ 1:45:56Chair Crapo: Thank you. Senator blackburn?
▶ 1:45:58Sen. Blackburn: Thank you, sir, for being here with us today. We appreciate it. As you well know, tennessee has a great economy. It is vibrant and booming, and we've got so many companies that are looking to relocate their businesses in our state, because we're one of the best led and lowest tax states in the country. And I'm hearing from them every day.
▶ 1:46:25Sen. Blackburn: They're excited to be in tennessee, but they almost always tell me they're nervous about the uncertainty of the tariff landscape. You and your team have always been responsive to us, and you've engaged with us, and I thank you for that. Tennesseans agree with you and president trump that we have to on-shore manufacturing and establish fair and reciprocal trade around the globe.
▶ 1:46:53Sen. Blackburn: But the whip saw effect has made it difficult for some of our businesses to maintain their growth plans or make big capital investments. I'm going to touch on some of the things I'm hearing back home. I won't ask you to reply here in person, but I will submit these for qfr's. I'd like to start with distilled spirits. We make good whiskey in tennessee. It's a popular product around the world.
▶ 1:47:23Sen. Blackburn: But especially in canada, we're so frustrated by the actions the canadians took to pull U.S. disspilled spirits from the shelves and are paying close attention to the recent announcement on canadian tariffs. And the question that I've got for you is anyway that pressure has been plied, what will come next? What do you expect to be the next step?
▶ 1:47:50Sen. Blackburn: How do we get the canadians to put jack daniels back on their shelves rather than allow allowing them to continue talking this thing and not reaching a resolution? On the other side of the border, we've got mexico. I know you're heading down there this evening. I'm hopeful that your discussions will be productive. We have companies in tennessee who are concerned about mexico's discriminatory use of tax audits.
▶ 1:48:20Sen. Blackburn: We see business reports that show us legitimate deductions are disallowed, significant tax assessments imposed without a meaningful opportunity to challenge them before payment is required, and inconsistent enforcement that creates substantial uncertainty for companies investing or operating in mexico.
▶ 1:48:46Sen. Blackburn: Is this something you're discussing with the mexicans, and how can we assure parity for american businesses that are operating in mexico? Additionally, you and I have spoken before about the eye tax. I am pleased that several of these have already been reconstituted and many will be joining you in mexico to provide feedback from industry in a classified setting.
▶ 1:49:14Sen. Blackburn: Is that said, I have auto companies who employed thousands of tennesseeians that are not represented by an itac in the usmca discussions. Will you commit to working more closely with them to ensure we land in a good spot on issues like rules of origin and content requirements?
▶ 1:49:45Sen. Blackburn: Switching gears, last week ustr finalized 25% tariffs on imports from brazil. When the tariffs were originally proposed, wood well up was to b- proposed, wood well up was to bp proposed, wood well up was to bs proposed, wood well up was to be proposed, wood well up was to b. However, when it was finalized, the specialty wood pulp was subject to the tariff, even though the domestic supplier cannot meet the industry's demand.
▶ 1:50:10Sen. Blackburn: I have a major employer in east tennessee who will be negatively impacted by this. I welcome the opportunity to help set up a meeting for you or your team so that you can engage directly with these folks who are working to find a solution. Will you agree to sit down with them? I also want to touch on china.
▶ 1:50:33Sen. Blackburn: I spoke last week with several of our treasury nominees about the importance of holding the chinese accountable to their commitments. Soybeans are our largest ag export in tennessee, and china is the largest purchaser of those soybeans. I'd like to ask you the same question.
▶ 1:50:55Sen. Blackburn: How are you ensuring when you get commitments from china that they actually follow through, and as you address this issue, how can we stop the nefarious practices we see from them, like dumping a shipment, which has such a negative impact on many of our companies? I am a little over time. I'm going to look forward to your written response on the questions.
▶ 1:51:26Sen. Blackburn: So often, what we have found in our office, is we're the first stop for companies that are trying to navigate a complex trade environment. They're looking for certainty. And as you know, many of these companies want to make major capital investments in states like tennessee, and they're utilizing, they want to utilize all the benefits of the working families tax cut.
▶ 1:51:55Sen. Blackburn: So we are seeking to work with you to find answers and to bolster manufacturing in the united states. Thank you, and thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:52:03Chair Crapo: Thank you, senator blackburn. And senator wyden has a quick closing statement, and we will be wrapping this hearing up. The vote has already started about 10 minutes ago.
▶ 1:52:13Sen. Wyden: Thank you very much, and I will be brief. As I indicated in my opening statement, today I introduced legislation to move trade back to where the american people have a voice, and that's congress. If you take today's situation and what we learned this morning, I don't believe that congress would go out and put a 50% tax on goods and services that jack up prices on the american people.
▶ 1:52:42Sen. Wyden: I think what we would do, we put americans first, which is what the founding fathers had in mind, and I think it's very fitting that we had this hearing on a day when I said it's also time to empower the american voter on this trade issue. That's what I've done with my legislation, and I hope it will pick up support on both sides of the aisle. Mr. greer, thank you for being with us. Look forward to working with you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:53:08Chair Crapo: That does conclude the hearing. Again, I also want to thank you, ambassador greer, for accommodating having to reschedule and making the time to come and meet with the committee today. Congress looks forward to continued collaboration with the administration to advance trade policy that benefits the american people. With with that, I remind my colleagues the deadline for submitting questions for the record is 5:00 p.m. Next wednesday, july 29. The finance committee stands adjourned.