During a House Ways and Means Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA) questioned Ambassador Jamieson Greer, a United States Trade Representative, about potential retaliation from trading partners in response to tariff policies.
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00:00Mr. Evans.
00:02Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:05Mr. Ambassador, I'm deeply concerned about the tariffs, and we are talking about it today.
00:14Philadelphia is the poorest big city in America, and it's hurting low people's income.
00:24There's a lot of money for a lot of people.
00:26So tariffs can only be used in a smart and effective way, and I feel from what I heard it has not.
00:34It is something that we are concerned about, and I'd like to start out with this question, Ambassador Aguirre.
00:41My first question.
00:44What specifically is the president hoping to help the residents of Philadelphia deal with the higher cost of living
00:53that these tasks would put on the average household?
00:57Does the president have a very specific plan and strategy to address the near-term harm it has created?
01:08Congressman, the president wants to ensure that we have good manufacturing jobs that pay higher wages to your constituents,
01:14just like what happened in the first term.
01:16He wants that to happen again, that they can have more money, better jobs in a stable environment
01:21and reshore manufacturing at the same time.
01:23So what would you say specifically would you say?
01:26How would you describe that?
01:28Well, I would say to your members and your constituents that we've had a long period of 5 million manufacturing jobs going away.
01:35It's dangerous for our country.
01:37It's bad for our economies and our families, and the president is taking action to create economic conditions
01:42to have more factories here, jobs here in their communities where they can have the types of income
01:48that they need to have to have stability for the working class, for the middle class,
01:52not just for the super-rich who go and get three or four degrees,
01:56but for people, honest, hard-working Americans who graduate from high school and need a job,
02:01and they can have one that's stable and supports our manufacturing.
02:03Mr. Ambassador, Pennsylvania exports today $46 billion in manufactured products.
02:12These exports support 150,000 people and jobs in the state.
02:17I'm concerned that the threat of retaliation from the trading partners will further help Pennsylvania.
02:25So can you specifically speak to that issue?
02:29Yes, this is something that we watch really closely as well.
02:35And so in advance of the tariff action, I had many conversations with our major trading partners,
02:41and we told them, you know, wait and see what happens on April 2, and then we can talk about what comes next.
02:47And so now most of our major trading partners have said, we're not going to retaliate against you.
02:52We want to talk to you about how to have more reciprocal trade, and that's a good outcome.
02:57I want to also talk about industry and small business, the effect that it will have,
03:03specifically when you talk about Philadelphia on small business.
03:07Can you speak to that?
03:08Certainly.
03:09I've actually tasked my staff to work with the Small Business Administration to make sure we're getting the feedback we need from our small businesses.
03:17I have an advisory council on small business at USTR, and I've asked my staff to convene that council so we can hear directly from them,
03:24because we want to make sure that we are hearing feedback in real time.
03:28I can give it to the president, and we can understand how the program is working.
03:33I'd like to thank you, Mr. Ambassador.
03:34Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
03:35Thank you, Mr. Chairman.