Lloyd Smucker Asks US Trade Rep What Will ‘Success Look Like’ In Current Tariff War

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During a House Ways and Means Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) questioned Ambassador Jamieson Greer, a United States Trade Representative, about the hopeful outcome of President Trump’s tariff policies.

Transcript

00:00I now recognize Mr. Smucker for five minutes.

00:04Thank you. Excuse me. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Hello, Ambassador.

00:08I want to thank you for the work that you're doing, for the change that you're working to bring about.

00:15And I also want to point out the differences that we've seen in the past four years of the Biden administration

00:21compared to the four years of the Trump administration, specifically in regards to trade.

00:27I think Democrats and Republicans alike were very unhappy with the past administration's approach to trade,

00:37basically, which was to do nothing, to do nothing to try to generate new agreements

00:42and to do nothing to try to open markets up for American manufacturers,

00:47to do nothing to try to bring jobs back to America.

00:52And that's just in such stark contrast to what we saw during the previous Trump administration.

00:59He had a bold and effective approach to trade,

01:02one that really delivered prosperity and brought our trading partners to the table.

01:07So we appreciate the work that the president did during his previous administration.

01:12We appreciate the work that he's doing and that you're doing on trade.

01:18It's a refreshing change to what we've seen over the past four years.

01:22And we trust the president to get this right again.

01:24We believe that we're seeing already the impact when you have tens,

01:32I don't know how many we're up to now, but countries coming to the table that have for a long time

01:38had tariffs in place for our goods, but we weren't doing the same.

01:42And so the idea of reciprocal trade, I think, is a great one that I can tell you,

01:49the American people in my district, business owners in my district, very much support.

01:56And they support the goals of this administration to bring back manufacturing jobs to the country,

02:03to bring back that investment in the country,

02:08and then to open up markets to our great American businesses.

02:14So I will also say this.

02:19Many of those business owners who love what the president is trying to accomplish

02:26are feeling a little consternation.

02:30They're concerned about how we're going to achieve what the intent is here.

02:39They still believe in what the president is doing,

02:42as I think every at least Republican member here agrees with that.

02:47But I just want to give you an opportunity, if you don't mind,

02:50to just sort of expand maybe on some of the things that you've said previously,

02:56but with that sort of audience in mind.

02:59What would you say to, for instance, a copper manufacturer in my district

03:03who you and I have spoken about previously,

03:06but this is impacting their business in a big way?

03:11And what would you say to other businesses who are in a similar situation?

03:16And maybe how would, if you could just paint a picture of what success will look like here,

03:21again, in the context of the successes that we've seen with USMCA negotiated

03:27under previous administration and all that,

03:28but take us out a few months, take us out a few years.

03:33What is the end goal here?

03:37I think I know what that is, but I'd love to give you a chance just to expand on that.

03:43What will success look like?

03:45How will that help every American business?

03:49Thank you, Congressman.

03:51I think we'll find that American businesses are much more competitive

03:54when they have open markets overseas.

03:57People talk about the high cost of doing business in America

04:00and manufacturing in America and growing in America.

04:03But when we cannot access foreign markets or we face barriers overseas,

04:08and not just tariffs, but also all the non-tariff barriers that we've outlined

04:11in this 400-page book, that increased cost.

04:14And it makes it difficult to be competitive globally and even domestically.

04:18At the same time, we have foreign producers who receive subsidies.

04:21They have countries where economic policies depress domestic demand.

04:25They make more stuff than they can consume.

04:27They send it here.

04:29And so I think what we're going to see in the near term,

04:31we're going to see a handful of partners who open their markets more to us,

04:34and it makes it much easier and much more competitive economically

04:38to have manufacturing here, to grow products here, to process them here,

04:42and export them to the rest of the world.

04:44So it's a virtuous cycle that you create when you create a situation

04:48where you have open markets, you create broader economic policies,

04:51whether it's good tax policy, good energy policy, to give you the tailwind you need.

04:55We have to reshore manufacturing.

04:58This is an important way to do it.

04:59We can have tariff protection as we get rid of the trade deficit,

05:03reshore manufacturing, and as other countries open their markets,

05:06they can potentially have a different arrangement that helps us

05:09as we try to have reciprocal trade and get rid of the deficit

05:11and get back to being a producing economy.

05:13It's where we need to be.

05:14Well, thank you again for your work.

05:16I'm out of time, but appreciate your work, and we're with you.

05:19Thanks.

05:21And now recognize Ms. Sewell for five minutes.

05:23Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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