‘What is the plan?’: Trump trade rep pushed on tariffs by U.S. lawmakers

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer addressed senators after global markets swung wildly and some business leaders lambasted the president's aggressive bid to raise tariffs.

The nation’s top trade representative said Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs are already getting results, bringing other countries to the negotiating table to discuss reducing their trade barriers, but acknowledged American consumers and businesses may face short-term challenges.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer addressed the Senate Finance Committee a day after global markets swung wildly and some business leaders lambasted the president’s aggressive bid to raise tariffs on almost every nation on earth.

Greer testified that “about 50” countries have sought talks to escape Trump’s import tariffs. He said, for example, that Vietnam is cutting its own tariffs on apples, almonds and cherries. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later quoted U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in saying the number of countries seeking new trade talks is now roughly 70.

The import taxes are designed to reduce America’s massive trade deficits, but Greer conceded that it will take time and that the adjustment might ”be challenging at times.”

Lawmakers, including Republicans, are getting jittery about Trump’s trade wars, especially since stocks collapsed after he announced broad tariffs last Wednesday. The market rebounded Tuesday on hopes that negotiations will convince the president to lower or suspend the tariffs, the biggest of which are set to take effect at midnight Wednesday.

“It seems like we’ve decided to begin a trade war on all fronts,″ said Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. He said he wanted to know who in the Trump administration he should hold responsible — and “choke” — if the tariffs fail and Americans suffer.

“I wish you well,″ he told Greer. ”But I am skeptical.’’

While Canada wasn’t included in Trump’s global tariffs, the country is still being hit by automobile, steel and aluminum tariffs, and still faces the ongoing threat of economy-wide fentanyl-related tariffs.