Mark Warner Explodes At Trade Rep Over Trump Imposing Tariffs On Australia Despite Trade Surplus

2 days ago

During a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) questioned US Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, on the Trump Administration imposing tariffs on Australia despite the United States having a trade surplus.

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 Warner. Well, Ambassador Greer, it's good to see

00:05you. And let me, first of all, completely agree with Senator Cantwell. I mean, I just

00:12don't get it. You know, the fact on semiconductors, while you gave a small exemption, you didn't

00:20exempt GPUs. You didn't exempt lithography equipment. You put a huge hit on Taiwan.

00:31Where we need collaboration with the TSMC. I'm baffled. I mean, you're gonna hear from

00:37me what I'm sure you're hearing from most of us, incredulous about, I think, probably

00:43the worst economic policies that I've seen in my lifetime. You know, and the data reflects

00:49that, you know, a global tariff of 10 to 50% on almost every worldwide country. Although,

00:56I will note from my Republican colleagues, you'll be probably glad to know that Russia

01:01didn't get a tariff increase. Yeah, I believe that the, when all these global tariffs go

01:07into effect, I think most of them as of midnight tonight, tariff rate will be approximately 23%,

01:13highest since 1909. I believe that'll translate into the largest tax increase since 1968.

01:19We've seen the numbers of about $4,000 per family cost. Since Inauguration Day, more

01:29than $11 trillion has vanished from the market. And I will acknowledge that we got a little

01:34blip today, but I just talked to one of the senior folks in Wall Street, and he described

01:41today's market as a good day in hospice. I wouldn't use his name because, you know, there are no good

01:51days in hospice. But that's kind of how I feel. And again, I know you guys are supposed to know

01:57more than all of Wall Street. But, you know, when every firm says, you know, we're going to see

02:03increased chance of recession, you know, and I, I, I've met you Ambassador Guerrero, you know,

02:12I think you're a smart guy. But I don't think just because this is the way Donald Trump wants the

02:17world to be for the last 40 years, that he can simply will it into happening. In my state,

02:22the Port of Virginia, accounts for $124 billion in trade. That amounts about half a million jobs.

02:30Those are all up for grabs now. We got 800,000 small businesses in Virginia. These tariffs are

02:37going to wallop them. I had last week a guy in from a local brewery in Alexandria. The owner's name

02:46is Bill. He's got a triple whammy. He gets his Pilsner from Canada. He gets his bottle caps

02:53from Mexico. He gets his kegs from Germany. So already, even in advance of these all kicking

03:01in at midnight tonight, he's laid off 10% of his staff. Even if the president flips on all

03:09this, he's not bringing folks back. I mean, candidly, I had another guy in from, who makes

03:16bourbon and sells a lot to Canada. He thinks it'll be a cold day in hell before the Canadians

03:22start buying American bourbon again, simply because our trust relationship has been broken.

03:28So I guess the first question I want to give, I'm trying to figure out what would be a question

03:32that maybe folks haven't asked. Let me ask you on this one. Australia is one of our strongest

03:40allies. We have the AUKUS relationship, which is key to their national security. It's key

03:47to our industrial base so we can continue to build subs. Terribly important. The interesting

03:54thing with Australia is we have a free trade agreement with Australia. We don't have tariffs.

04:01We even have, one of the few industrial countries, we have a trade surplus with Australia. So

04:08Ambassador Greer, can you explain to me how it helps America's national security or our

04:13trading balance when we have, and I loved your fancy Greek formula, which was basically bad

04:20math on steroids formula, how with a trade surplus, with this strong relationship, Australia got

04:27hit with a 10% tariff as well. Senator, Australia has the lowest rate available

04:33under the new program. They ban imports of American beef.

04:37Ambassador, excuse me. There is a trade, we already have a free trade agreement. We have

04:43a trade surplus. So getting the least bad, why did they get whacked in the first place?

04:49We're addressing the $1.2 trillion deficit, the largest in human history that President Biden

04:54left us with. We should be running up the score in Australia. Ambassador Greer, answer the

04:57question on Australia. They ban our beef and pork. We have a trade surplus with Australia.

05:02We have a free trade agreement. Why? They are an incredibly important national security partner.

05:08Why were they whacked with a tariff? Senator, despite the agreement, they ban our beef,

05:13they ban our pork, they're getting ready to impose measures on our digital companies.

05:16With your Greek letter formula, the fact that we have a trade surplus, we have a global tariff

05:23on everyone. We're trying to address the $1.2 trillion deficit that Biden left us with.

05:27I think that answer, sir, you're a much smarter person than that answer. The idea that we are

05:34going to whack friend and foe alike, and particularly friends, with this level is both, I think, insulting

05:43the Australians, undermines our national security, and frankly makes us not a good partner going

05:48forward. The lack of trust from friends and allies based upon this ridiculous policy that goes into

05:55full effect at midnight tonight is extraordinary. I go back to what the market believers believe today

06:01is happening. A good day in hospice. I'm afraid if we keep these tariffs in effect, we're looking

06:07like an economy that will be in hospice. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator Daines.

06:15Mr. Chairman, thank you. Ambassador Greer, welcome to Capitol Hill.

Mark Warner Explodes At Trade Rep Over Trump Imposing Tariffs On Australia Despite Trade Surplus

Category

Transcript

Recommended