At Hearing, Trump Trade Nominee Agrees with Warren on Need for Transparency for Tariff Exemptions
Warren: “[W]hen used strategically and fairly, [tariffs] can… protect the jobs of American workers. But we can’t have a get-out-of-tariff-free system for those that are very wealthy or politically-connected, because that will undermine the whole process.”
Washington, D.C. – At a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) questioned Mr. Jamieson Greer, President Trump’s pick for U.S. Trade Representative, on his vision for Trump’s trade policy.
While there are open questions of how tariff exemptions will work under the Trump presidency, Mr. Greer agreed with Senator Warren that large corporations have outsized influence on trade deals and that U.S. trade policy needs to ensure “American businesses and American workers [are] prioritized,” and that any exemption program “needs to be transparent and have the rules outlined.”
“Any time we’re taking economic actions, whether it’s a tariff or an exclusion, we need to be careful about this and we need to be thoughtful..[a tariff exclusion process] needs to be transparent,” said Mr. Greer about exemptions favoring large, well-connected companies.
During President Trump’s first administration, well-connected companies were given tariff exemptions. A review by Senator Warren’s office found that the Trump Commerce Department was three times as likely to approve exemptions for Chinese and Japanese-headquartered companies than American ones. Right now, the door is still open for the administration to pursue a similar approach.
Transcript: Hearing to Consider the Nomination of Jamieson Greer, of Maryland, to be United States Trade Representative, with the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Senate Finance Committee
February 6, 2025
Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Congratulations on your nomination, Mr. Greer. Tariffs are an important strategic economic tool. But I am concerned that President Trump is stumbling into a trade war that won’t help protect jobs, that won’t keep Americans safe, and that won’t bring down costs for families.
That said, I think you and I agree that for too long, U.S. trade policy has been a race to the bottom – with deal after deal that sold out American workers and helped multinational corporations offshore critical industries.
But lately, that’s been changing – under US Trade Rep Bob Lighthizer and then US Trade Rep Katherine Tai. And I appreciate your work as Chief of Staff under Ambassador Lighthizer.
Ambassador Lighthizer, I think, had it right when he wrote that problems in our trade relationship with China – and U.S. trade policy in general – can be traced to, “the political establishment, of both the Republican and Democratic parties, under the influence of multinational corporations and importers.”
Mr. Greer, do you agree with Mr. Lighthizer that multinational corporations have just had too much power over U.S. trade policy?
Mr. Jamieson Greer, nominee for United States Trade Representative: I agree with Ambassador Lighthizer, and I believe that trade policy in the past has been designed to help that sector and has ignored other sectors.
Senator Warren: Good, well, we’ve got to start by recognizing the problem, right? For too long, corporate lobbyists have bought their way into our trade policy. And I’ve been glad to see that changing.
But raising tariffs doesn’t necessarily mean an end to corporate capture. When the last Trump administration hiked tariffs, corporate lobbyists lined up to demand exemptions, and now, with President Trump threatening even more tariffs, they’re ready to do it again. So what did this tariff exemption process look like the last time around?
Well, I investigated, and I found that the Trump Commerce Department was three times as likely to approve exemptions for Chinese and Japanese-headquartered companies than American ones.
Mr. Greer – favoring foreign companies over American ones – is that good trade policy?
Mr. Greer: Senator, I think that our trade policy needs to make sure we have American businesses and American workers prioritized.
Senator Warren: Okay, let’s try another one. A recent study found that the Trump USTR officials were more likely to grant exemptions to China tariffs to companies that had made campaign contributions to Republicans or had lobbyists who had recently left the Trump administration.
Mr. Greer - favoring companies with deep pockets and political connections – is that good trade policy?
Mr. Greer: Of course not, any kind of program like that needs to be transparent and have the rules outlined, which it did.
Senator Warren: I appreciate that answer. This time around, President Trump has proposed far broader tariffs than we’ve seen before– potentially on all goods, from all countries. And with more and more tariffs, the corporate scramble for exemptions is more and more intense. One trade lobbyist recently said, and I quote, “Absolutely everyone is calling. It is nonstop.” And let’s be clear – most businesses across America cannot afford armies of lobbyists.
So, Mr. Greer, do you support tariff exclusions, these exemptions, and – if so – what changes would you make to ensure it’s a fair process and not a giveaway to political insiders and deep-pocketed corporations?
Mr. Greer: So, Senator, I know you’ve been a leader on this and you’ve given a lot of thought to it, which I think is important. Any time we’re taking economic actions, whether it’s a tariff or an exclusion, we need to be careful about this and we need to be thoughtful. I don’t know – in the event tariffs are applied – I don’t know if the President intends to have an exclusion policy or program at all. To the extent something like this happens, it needs to be transparent. One thing they did at USTR the first time around, if one company got an exclusion – any company got an exclusion. So if a big company got an exclusion for a certain product, a small business would too.
So again, I don’t know if there will be exclusion processes, but to the extent there is, they need to be transparent, they need to be fair for small and large.
Senator Warren: Well, I very much appreciate what you have to say around this. As I said before, I think tariffs are an important tool. And when used strategically and fairly, they can promote American industries, they can protect domestic supply chains, they can protect the jobs of American workers. But we can’t have a get-out-of-tariff-free system for those that are very wealthy or politically-connected, because that will undermine the whole process. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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