US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer defended the Trump administration's trade policy, telling lawmakers that tariffs and aggressive negotiations were beginning to deliver tangible gains for American workers and industry.
Appearing before the House Ways and Means Committee, Greer said the administration's approach marked a decisive break from past policies that, in his view, encouraged offshoring and weakened domestic manufacturing. The hearing comes just over two months after the Supreme Court struck down the bulk of Trump’s global tariffs.
"We're exporting more than we've ever made before, and our workers are making more and getting paid more to do it," he said, citing record export figures and rising wages.
Greer framed the strategy around "reciprocal and balanced trade," arguing that the US had long allowed foreign goods to enter its market without securing equivalent access abroad. "It's just reciprocity," he said, stressing that trading partners must provide "effective access" if they expect to benefit from the US market.
Central to that approach has been the use of tariffs, which Greer described as leverage rather than an end in themselves. He told lawmakers that recent trade openings in multiple countries were achieved not through persuasion but by applying economic pressure.
Highlighting what he described as early economic gains, including a reduction in the US trade deficit and increased manufacturing activity, Greer said the goods trade deficit had fallen by 24 per cent since the introduction of the administration's trade program in April 2025.
