Senate Republicans urged President Donald Trump’s trade chief to negotiate deals with world leaders in a hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday morning, signaling, albeit gently, that they are eager for an end game in the president’s market-roiling trade war.
Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) opened the hearing by pressing U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the administration’s “objective” for his sweeping “reciprocal tariffs” that are scheduled to go into effect first thing Wednesday, saying he hoped the goal was expanding trade and opening up markets for American exporters
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) was even more pointed. “Everyone that I talk to is grateful that we’re actually attacking the trade deficit issue and trying to bring down barriers to trade,” Lankford told Greer. But “they also want to get a timeline,” for when the tariffs will be lifted.
And he expressed doubt about one of Trump’s main goals for the steep new global tariffs — erasing the United States’ trade deficits with foreign countries.
“Most countries in the world are never going to buy as much as we are purchasing,” Lankford said.
