Jacky Rosen Presses Trump Nominee On 'Potential Trade War' Between US And EU Due To Tariffs

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During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing last week, Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) spoke about President Trump's tariffs on the EU.

Transcript

00:00Senator Rosen. Thank you, Chair Risch. I appreciate you holding this hearing. I want to thank our

00:06witnesses for testifying here today. We have just a few minutes, so let's get at it. I want to talk

00:11about women and girls. We consistently hear that one of the biggest and most important differences

00:16between U.S. foreign assistance and that of the People's Republic of China is the U.S. commitment

00:21to investing in entire societies, including women and girls. They are the backbone of families and

00:28stability in many of these nations. So, Mr. Black, will you commit that if confirmed, you will direct

00:36DFC to continue its support to women and girls, including their economic empowerment and stabilizing

00:42role in maintaining peace and security? Senator, thank you for your question. As you know, under the

00:49Build Act, there are a number of different preferences that the DFC is to keep in mind for

00:57investments. One of them is for women. If confirmed, I commit to following all the strictures of the

01:03Build Act and the reauthorization. Thank you. I want to talk a little bit about Abraham Accords,

01:09because over the past five years, the Abraham Accords have produced tangible results. It's improved

01:14regional security. It's been expanding economic opportunity and creating people-to-people ties

01:19that make peace achievable and lasting between Israel and its Arab partners. While Hamas's brutal

01:25October 7th attack paused this progress, I am hopeful we will be able to see new countries join the Abraham

01:32Accords in the near future, including those outside the Middle East and North Africa. So, Mr. Kapoor,

01:39what do you think of the possibility of Central Asian countries joining the Abraham Accords? And will you

01:45commit that, if confirmed, you will work with me to explore this idea further? Excuse me, Dr. Kapoor.

01:51Thank you, Senator, for the question. It's certainly something that I would consider, and I would look

01:58forward to discussing with you if I were confirmed. I don't know what the various countries would think

02:05about that or what they would have to say about it, but it's something that I would be interested in

02:09discussing further with you and perhaps pursuing. I can tell you I think that they will welcome

02:14strengthening the Abraham Accords economic ties and opportunities for peer-to-peer exchange in so

02:20many different areas. We'll look forward to working with you on that. I want to move now to the European

02:26Union and tariffs because in recent years Nevada has imported over two billion dollars in goods per year

02:33from the EU. It's also exported close to 2.5 billion dollars in goods to the EU per year. President Trump has

02:41threatened to place a 50 percent tariff on all important imported goods from the EU and the EU

02:47announced it is prepared to impose retaliatory tariffs on the US. This is going to place a heavy burden on

02:53Nevada families and businesses, especially small business and family-owned businesses. We're talking over two

02:59billion dollars. So Mr. Pudzer, it confirmed how will you navigate this issue and ensure that my Nevada

03:06families, my Nevada businesses do not face financial hardship as a result of a potential trade war between

03:13the US and EU countries? Not to mention every state I'm sure. Thank you, Senator. That's a great, very timely question.

03:19As you know, President Trump, one of the reasons for that was his commitment to re-reset our international trade

03:30relationship so they no longer were America last, were over generous to our competitors and threatened our

03:36national security. So tariffs are a part of that, but I do have to say we are in negotiations now, Representative

03:43and again, I only know this- I know, but it's over a two and a half billion dollar hit to Nevada and we're

03:48only a state of three million people. That's a pretty big hit sir, so we need to discuss this. Right, I'm not read

03:54into what's going on in the negotiations, but Trade Representative Gur just came out with very positive

03:59comments about the progress they're making. I know the EU wants an agreement, I know the United States

04:05wants an agreement, so I'm- and actually there's an article in the Wall Street Journal just yesterday about- Well, my Nevada

04:11businesses don't- can't wait and they're going to suffer now and so we'll move on because I want to

04:17get my last- I see Senator Barrasso's here and I just want to ask about critical and emerging technology.

04:22The PRC is vying to replace the United States technological edge in a number of critical spheres.

04:28We know this- AI, biotechnology, quantum computing. This cannot happen as U.S. leadership in critical and

04:35emerging tech I believe is key to maintaining economic security, maintaining deterrence and

04:40bolstering stability in the Pacific. So, Mr. Hellberg, if confirmed, how will you work to ensure the U.S.

04:47maintains its qualitative edge across the spectrum of critical and emerging technologies? I have a lot of

04:54questions for you, but my time's out. We'll just start with this one. Thank you so much, Senator,

04:58and thank you for taking the time to meet. We have one of the best innovation ecosystems in the world.

05:06The foundations of that ecosystem are currently sitting on top of very brittle supply chains. It's

05:11one of our biggest weaknesses. China's export controls on rare earth minerals is currently constraining

05:17the global automobile industry along with many various other industries. I believe that efforts that the

05:24U.S. government undertakes to secure our supply chains will not only help create job opportunities in

05:30the United States, including in Nevada with the lithium loop, but will also help ensure America's

05:36technological leadership because it'll ensure that our technological champions have all of the resources

05:42that they need in order to innovate and expand capacity in the U.S., expanding data center compute capacity

05:50as well as access to cutting-edge chips. Thank you. We're very proud of our Nevada lithium loop and hope

05:55to expand that further. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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