Eugene Vindman Asks DoD Official: Has The Department Done A ‘Risk Assessment’ On Trump’s Tariffs?

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During a House Armed Services Committee hearing held before the congressional recess, Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-VA) questioned Military and DoD officials on tariff impacts and the rise of authoritarian power.

Transcript

00:00General, it yields back.

00:01Chair, I recognize the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Bindman.

00:04Thank you, Mr. Chair.

00:06I have the privilege of being the last, and I congratulate you all on sitting through this long hearing,

00:12and thank you for your service.

00:13And Fleet Master Chief, I congratulate you on your upcoming retirement.

00:18It's great to serve, but it's also great to be retired.

00:21China, Russia, and North Korea and Iran represent decades-long alignment of leading authoritarian states.

00:28They represent, really, the antithesis of American values and ideals in many ways.

00:34Recently, Iran has been weakened in its Middle East conflict with Israel and Russia in its protracted engagement on Ukraine,

00:44so much so that they could not reinforce their bases in Syria and had to mostly withdraw.

00:50Admiral Paparo, does this access of authoritarians demonstrate an increased threat environment inside and outside of Indopaycom,

00:58including to our homeland?

01:00Congressman, unequivocally, yes.

01:03Does helping Ukraine remain a strong, sovereign, independent country weaken Russia in this access?

01:11Sir, Russia's failure and or Russia's success will have a direct correlation on deterrence in the Pacific,

01:18and Russia is a significant threat in the Indo-Pacific.

01:21And I agree, and I think it's the best observable way to weaken Russia rather than trying to entice them with some sort of carrot approach.

01:32In fact, this weakening of this access, two members of the access, comes at no cost in American service member lives,

01:39although there have been Americans that have gone over and volunteered and tragically lost their lives in Ukraine.

01:46But it does come at a cost in material and treasure.

01:49And as a 25-year Army vet, that's what I call a good deal.

01:54So, Mr. Ngo, unlike the United States, there's no daylight between China's commercial and military sectors.

02:02They're one and the same in many ways.

02:04You mentioned to my colleagues that you don't look at tariffs.

02:06However, because the military and commercial sectors are intertwined,

02:11then in your role, and certainly the secretary, must take the impact of tariffs into consideration.

02:17I mean, I think back on history and the U.S. oil embargo on Japan in the prelude to World War II

02:25and Russia's attack, or Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.

02:30In your assessment, does this constitute a major escalation with China?

02:36And escalate military tensions?

02:41Congressman, I will talk about what I know and what I've been working on,

02:45which is that the department has been moving quickly at the direction of our secretary of defense

02:50to strengthen our posture, to strengthen our alliances and partnerships

02:54with our allies and partners throughout the region,

02:57to reestablish deterrence, and to deter China.

03:00And so we've been doing so, and we will continue to do so.

03:05So, I mean, has the department conducted a risk assessment of the administration's tariffs impact

03:11on the risk of additional conflict or potential conflict with China?

03:18Congressman, I'm not sure if the department has conducted such an assessment.

03:32That's something I can take back.

03:33Okay.

03:33I encourage you to do so.

03:34If we're choking them off economically, and they've already indicated an intent to seize Taiwan,

03:46it seems like we might be further driving them into an aggressive posture against us.

03:51So, something we should look at, certainly, from the department's perspective.

03:53Now, looking at the impact of tariffs on our partners,

03:58we're asking our partners to raise their spending to 5%.

04:03If we're, at the same time, we're looking at the risk of a global recession and a U.S. recession,

04:12what are the chances that they're going to be able to increase their spending in a recessionary environment?

04:19Congressman, Secretary Heksev has communicated the message,

04:30not only during his visit to the Indo-Pacific in Japan and the Philippines,

04:35but when speaking with counterparts throughout the region,

04:38that they need to step up and do more.

04:42And I understand that, but what I'm asking you to do,

04:44and you may not be prepared to answer this now, and I don't have much time left,

04:48but I encourage you to look at what the imposition of these tariffs does to the request to increase military spending.

04:57So, thank you, and I yield back.

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