U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer testifies before the Senate Finance Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on April 8, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer defended the Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs Tuesday as he faced senators from both sides of the aisle who relayed their constituents’ economic anxiety.

Democratic and Republican senators alike questioned how the policy will affect their states’ industries in the coming months.

“Whose throat do I get to choke if this proves wrong?” asked GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

Greer told members of the Senate Committee on Finance that President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration to trigger steep worldwide import taxes is “common sense.”

“Our trade deficit, driven by these non-reciprocal conditions, is a manifestation of the loss of the nation’s ability to make, to grow, and to build,” Greer said.

“The president recognizes the urgency of the moment. On the first day of his second term, President Trump issued a comprehensive memorandum setting out his trade policy direction. No other president has done this,” Greer continued in his opening statement.

Responses from around the world range from all-out retaliation to negotiation to capitulation. Chinese officials, who could see tariffs reach 104% after Trump threatened Monday to pile more on, said Tuesday they will “fight to the end.”

Tariffs launch just after midnight

The previously scheduled hearing on Trump’s trade agenda came less than a week after the president used his emergency powers to unveil new import taxes on products from nearly every country around the world.

Trump’s tariffs will begin just after midnight, hitting major exporters to the United States as well as poor and developing nations. They range from a 46% tax on Vietnam, whose major exports to Americans include tech products, to a 50% tax on Lesotho, a small African nation that exports diamonds to U.S. jewelers.

Claims from the administration that dozens of governments have reached out to negotiate buoyed U.S. and world markets Tuesday after three days of turbulence erased trillions of dollars in wealth.

Trump’s baseline 10% tariffs launched Saturday on trading partners, including allies who import more American goods than the amount of their own products they export to the U.S.

The tax on allies with a trade surplus drew the ire of Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat. “Why did they get whacked in the first place?” he asked Greer, raising his voice.

Trump has exempted pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, critical minerals, and semiconductors from his new levies. Those imports are worth $665 billion, according to an analysis from the Atlantic Council, a think tank focused on U.S. foreign relations.

The levies come on top of Trump’s previously enacted 25% national security levies on foreign steel and aluminum, and foreign cars, as well as emergency tariffs at 20% on Chinese imports and 10% to 25% on products from Canada and Mexico. 

‘Aimless, chaotic tariff spree’

Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the committee, announced at the hearing that he plans to fast-track a resolution “to end the latest crop of global tariffs that are clobbering American families and business members on both sides of the aisle.”

“Donald Trump’s aimless, chaotic tariff spree has proven beyond a doubt that Congress has given far too much of its constitutional power over international trade to the executive branch. It is time to take that power back,” the Oregon Democrat said in opening remarks.

Committee Chair Mike Crapo expressed some optimism that Trump’s tariff agenda would eventually boost American industries.

“Members and the public have questions and concerns about the recent tariff actions. That’s ok. We should think about tariff impacts and ask questions,” said Crapo, an Idaho Republican.

Once people “contextualize” Trump’s tariffs, “the real headline then becomes the fundamental shift in trade policy since President Trump’s inauguration — where the United States actually plans to do trade again,” Crapo said.

Oklahomans worried

But other senators wanted more assurance for small business owners who are contacting them for answers about the sudden economic turmoil.

Sen. James Lankford told Greer he’s heard from a constituent in Oklahoma who switched purchasing from China to Vietnam after Trump’s first administration targeted China with tariffs. Now, the company worries about the 46% tax it will have to pay on imports from Vietnam.

“Is there a timeline you’re dealing with?” the Republican asked Greer.

The trade representative said more than 50 countries, including Vietnam, have reached out to strike new trade agreements.

“We don’t have any particular timeline set on that,” Greer said. “What I can say is I’m moving as quickly as possible.”

“The time piece does matter to them,” Lankford said.

Lankford then asked if any industries, including garment manufacturers in Oklahoma, can apply for an exemption from import taxes on products they can only purchase from abroad.

“I know long term the hope is to have a more diversified (market). In the short term, they don’t have another option. How do you plan to handle that?” Lankford said.

Greer replied: “Senator, the president has been clear with me and with others that he doesn’t intend to have exclusions and exemptions, especially given the nature of the action. If you have Swiss cheese in the action, it can undermine the overall point.”

Warner grew heated during questioning with Greer, saying he’s hearing from Wall Street that business people viewed the U.S. market recovery Tuesday “as a good day in hospice.”

“We have 800,000 small businesses in Virginia. These tariffs are going to wallop them,” Warner said.

EU, other nations react

The European Union is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a list of targeted American imports the bloc of 27 nations plans to tax in response. Trump unveiled a 20% levy on EU products as part of his “Liberation Day” plans.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is staring down a 17% tariff from Trump, promised during an Oval Office meeting Monday that his country will “very quickly” even out trade with the U.S.

Trump wrote on social media Tuesday morning that he held a “great call” with South Korea’s acting president Han Duck-soo. Trump imposed a 25% tariff on South Korean exports into the U.S., which largely include cars, auto parts and electric batteries.

“Their top TEAM is on a plane heading to the U.S., and things are looking good,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The comments came a day Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he would lead negotiations with Japan, which faces a 24% levy. Americans mainly import cars, auto parts and construction vehicles from Japan.

The prospect of negotiation brought Japan’s stocks up overnight after flagging upon tariff uncertainty.