WASHINGTON: Influential American Senators confronted US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer over tariffs, rising consumer prices, small-business strain, and the administration’s sweeping reciprocal-trade negotiations, in a hearing that revealed growing bipartisan unease with the economic fallout of rapid policy shifts.
Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen said consumers were paying “higher prices for everyday necessities from groceries to clothing to home goods because of the Trump tariffs, ” citing estimates that tariffs could cost households “roughly $4, 900 a year.” Senator Patty Murray pressed Greer directly: “Do tariffs raise prices for American consumers?” Greer responded: “I don't think they do… they have a very limited impact.”
Mid-sized manufacturers, small businesses, and exporters also featured prominently in lawmakers’ accounts. Senator Susan Collins said lobster and blueberry producers in Maine were facing sharply higher equipment costs because the 50 per cent steel and aluminum tariff “has increased costs for essential equipment like traps.” Greer said he would raise the issue with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.