'You've Offered A Lot Of Word Salad': Ron Wyden Excoriates Trump Trade Rep To His Face Over Tariff Chaos

2 days ago

At today's Senate Finance Committee hearing, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) questioned U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer about President Trump's trade policy.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00Senator Wyden for his remarks. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

00:04Mr. Chairman and colleagues, today's hearing on the President's trade agenda begins with

00:10American retirement funds, investors, and our economy in purgatory thanks to Donald Trump's

00:18plan to hike tariffs to levels not seen since before the invention of the automobile.

00:25Prices are continuing to increase. Markets for made-in-the-USA products are slamming shut

00:33around the world. The U.S. economy has gone from the envy of the world to a laughing stock in less

00:42time than it took to finish March Madness. Through it all, Donald Trump and his advisors have yet to

00:49provide an understandable explanation. Any explanation for what his tax hike on the American

00:56people is supposed to accomplish. And so, this morning, I'd like to focus on one central question.

01:04What is the plan? In the last week, the White House has been all over the map when it comes to this

01:14question. There is no clear message of how the tariffs were determined, what they're supposed to

01:20accomplish, how long they'll be in place, whether they're a negotiating tool or a move to try and cut

01:26the United States off from global trade and usher in a new era of 1870s-style protectionism.

01:36In the days since Donald Trump announced his tariffs, the President and his advisors

01:40have repeatedly changed their stories on all of these questions. Last Thursday, Donald Trump said,

01:49quote, the tariffs give us great power to negotiate. Just after Secretary Lutnik and a top economic

01:56advisor told reporters the tariffs were not up for negotiation. Then the stories changed again on

02:04Sunday when the Secretary of Agriculture and the top White House economic advisor, Kevin Hassett,

02:09both said Trump's tariffs were bringing foreign countries to the table, hoping to negotiate new

02:15deals to cut tariffs. At nearly the same time, the Treasury Secretary was on TV Sunday saying the

02:22tariffs would remain in place for, quote, days and weeks. Asked if the tariffs were up for negotiation,

02:29the Commerce Secretary said Sunday, the tariffs are coming. He announced it and he wasn't kidding.

02:35The tariffs are coming. And yesterday in the Oval Office, Donald Trump said,

02:40there can be permanent tariffs and there can also be negotiations. So again, this morning,

02:47what we want to know is what is the plan? The stock market is up a bit this morning on yet another

02:54round of rumors that Donald Trump might not go through with his full barrage of tariffs.

02:59Yet this weekend, Donald Trump retweeted a post on True Social arguing that Trump is crashing our

03:07economy and markets on purpose as a strategy to lower interest rates. Is it possible that's the plan?

03:16Tank the economy so wealthy people can borrow money more cheaply? We know that billionaires like Howard

03:23Lutnik and semi-billionaires like Scott Besant won't mind paying more for groceries or gas.

03:29It's a drop in the bucket for them. But for families, higher costs are going to get hurt.

03:34Higher costs are going to hurt. The nonpartisan Yale Budget Lab predicts the tariffs will cost

03:39families $3,800 in the first year alone. In Mr. Greer's confirmation hearing, he argued that economic

03:47security leads to strong national security. Our country is getting the opposite with these

03:54pointless tariffs. Destroying the foundations of our economy is not only disastrous for workers

03:59and families, it makes our people less safe. So you look at Stellantis, the auto company,

04:05laying off 900 workers in response to the tariffs. I talked to Pacific Northwest fruit growers who are

04:11being told no more American exports. And I hear from small businesses in Oregon that they'll have to pay more

04:17for the materials they use to make their products. And I worry that Americans will soon be poorer and face

04:24greater threats to our national security thanks to these Trump policies. Is that the plan?

04:30Colleagues, I'm going to close with this. The Trump aimless, chaotic tariff spree has proven beyond a doubt

04:37that Congress has given far too much of our constitutional power over an international trade to the

04:45executive branch. It is time to take that power back. On a bipartisan vote, 51 senators sent that signal

04:53last week by stepping in and passing legislation to lift Trump's reckless tariffs on Canada. Well now,

05:01Donald Trump has slapped tariffs on about 180 countries and this is a big unforced error that requires a big

05:10response. So let me close with this announcement. Today I am proposing a new bipartisan privileged

05:18resolution to end the latest crop of global tariffs that are clobbering American families and small

05:26businesses. Members on both sides of the aisle ought to know that this is a call to action and Congress

05:32must step in to rein this president on trade. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Senator Wyden.

'You've Offered A Lot Of Word Salad': Ron Wyden Excoriates Trump Trade Rep To His Face Over Tariff Chaos

Category

Transcript

Recommended