Jamieson Greer, the president’s top trade negotiator, told the Senate that
the United States remained intent on tariffs as it prepared to replace duties the
Supreme Court struck down.
·
U.S. Trade
Representative Jamieson Greer
told the Senate that the Trump administration remains committed to using tariffs to boost U.S. manufacturing,
protect workers, and reduce the trade deficit.
·
The administration
is preparing to impose new
global tariffs to replace duties that were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in February.
·
Greer said
that while the legal authority
for tariffs has changed, the administration’s overall trade strategy remains unchanged.
·
The current
10% global baseline tariff
is set to expire on Friday,
with a replacement expected before then.
·
In June, the U.S. proposed Section 301 tariffs of 10–12.5%
on imports from more than 80
countries, citing inadequate enforcement against forced-labour goods.
·
The administration
is also preparing another Section
301 tariff package targeting countries’ industrial and manufacturing
practices.
·
President
Trump recently signed orders imposing a 50%
tariff on selected Canadian goods, alleging unfair treatment of
U.S. industries.
·
Trump also
announced plans to impose high
tariffs on generic medicines from 2028.
·
Democrats
argued that tariffs are increasing prices for American consumers and damaging trade
relations with allies, especially Canada.
·
Several
lawmakers stressed the importance of preserving the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA),
particularly for agriculture and regional trade.
·
Greer said
the administration wants to update
USMCA, including stricter rules to encourage more automobile production in the United
States, while retaining key provisions such as agricultural market
access.
·
Senator
Ron Wyden introduced
legislation that would require Congressional
approval for many presidential tariff actions and strengthen congressional
oversight of trade policy.
·
Separately,
Congress is considering another bill that would allow the President to impose tariffs of up to 100% on
countries purchasing large quantities of Russian
oil and natural gas, potentially affecting countries such as China, India, Japan, the European Union,
and others.
[ABS News Service/23.07.2026]
Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, told Congress on Wednesday
(22.07.2026) that a “national emergency” on trade persisted and that the administration
remained intent on using tariffs to transform the economy.
Testifying before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, Mr.
Greer said he considered President Trump’s tariff policy a success and would use
whatever tools he had available to continue it.
The Trump administration is preparing to introduce another barrage
of global tariffs as soon as this week, as the president tries to replace tariffs
that were declared legally invalid in February.
“The specific authorities this administration is using have changed,
but the trade strategy has not,” Mr. Greer said. “We are committed to continuing
to use tariffs and to negotiate deals to support the reindustrialization of our
economy, protect American workers and increase their wages and shrink our trade
deficit.”
At the hearing, several Republican senators emphasized the importance
to their states of maintaining and expanding trade ties. Democrats denounced the
Trump administration for treating close allies like Canada so harshly, including
with newly threatened tariffs this week.
Democrats also criticized tariffs for adding to the prices of consumer goods for American families, something Mr. Greer tried to rebuff.
“These tariffs are raising costs, and everybody seems to know that
except the Trump administration,” said Senator Raphael Warnock, Democrat of Georgia.
The Trump administration has been working to repair its global tariffs
after the Supreme Court in February ruled
that Mr. Trump’s use of an international emergency to
issue global tariffs last year was unlawful. That decision struck down tariffs Mr.
Trump had announced last year on what he called “Liberation Day,” and cast into
question the trade deals the administration had negotiated based on those levies.
As a stopgap measure, Mr. Trump used another legal measure to impose
a flat 10 percent tariff globally. That tariff is set to expire on Friday, but the
administration has already readied a replacement.
In June, the Office of the United States Trade Representative proposed imposing a tariff of between 10 and 12.5 percent on goods from more than 80 countries,
using a legal authority known as Section 301. It argued that those countries’ failure
to impose and enforce laws blocking goods made with forced labor
from their markets had unfairly
disadvantaged the United States.
It’s not clear when those tariffs will be imposed, but several people
familiar with the plans said they anticipated them to be ready before the current
10 percent base line duty expires on Friday. The Trump administration is also preparing
another tranche of tariffs under Section 301 that relates to other countries’ practices toward
their factory sectors, and they could be put into effect in the coming weeks or
months.
The administration has continued to double down on other tariffs
as well. Mr. Trump on Monday signed
orders to impose a 50 percent tariff on a wide range
of Canadian goods, claiming that Canada had discriminated against the United States
in key industries. He said on Tuesday that the United States would impose steep tariffs on generic medications in 2028.
Some analysts speculated that Mr. Trump was trying to force Canada
to the negotiating table in talks over the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
U.S. and Mexican officials are discussing
that deal in Mexico City this week, but talks between the
United States and Canada have not officially begun.
Canada and Mexico are the United States’ biggest export markets,
and particularly crucial for U.S. agriculture. At the hearing, both Republicans
and Democrats reiterated the importance of the U.S.M.C.A. deal to their states.
Senator Ron Wyden, the top Democratic on the Finance Committee, criticized
the administration for placing 50 percent tariffs on some Canadian products while
rolling “out the red carpet” for China, “one of the biggest trade cheats there is.”
“It just seems to me that on tariffs, the administration has lost
the plot,” he said.
Senator Peter Welch, Democrat of Vermont, said that the tariffs,
whatever their intent, were “really causing a lot of harm so far in Vermont, both
the tariffs and the way in which they are variable and changing quite a bit.” Canada
is Vermont’s top trade customer, he added.
Mr. Greer responded that Canada had benefited from the best trade
treatment, even under Mr. Trump’s trade policy since last April.
“We’re trying to balance this relationship, have as much trade, liberal
trade in North America as possible while protecting our producers,” Mr. Greer said.
“It’s not going to happen overnight,” he said.
Mr. Greer said that there were aspects of the U.S.M.C.A. that needed
to be changed, such as adding rules that would require more auto production in the
United States. But he said that the deal included certain “load-bearing pillars,”
provisions that ensured agricultural market access and other areas where the United
States hadn’t seen problems.
“But where we have seen issues, we’re already in process of fixing
it to make sure we can get more production here in the U.S.,” he said.
Lawmakers are weighing whether to expand or restrict the president’s
ability to impose tariffs. While the Constitution gives power over trade to Congress,
lawmakers have written numerous laws that allow the president to issue tariffs in
certain circumstances.
Mr. Wyden introduced a bill on Wednesday that would eliminate or
reform various tariff authorities delegated to the president to reassert Congress’
authority over such duties. The bill would mandate Congressional approval for tariffs,
establish a committee that would review the president’s tariff actions and make
clear that binding trade pacts need approval from Congress.
But Congress is also considering a bill, sponsored by the late Senator
Lindsey Graham, that would allow the president to increase tariffs up to 100 percent
on countries that buy the largest quantities of Russian oil and natural gas. Some have warned that the bill could give Mr. Trump an even more flexible tool to
impose tariffs on China, India, the European Union, Japan and others.