In Senate Finance Hearing with USTR Amb. Jamieson Greer, Democratic Leadership Launches Anti-Tariff Bill

Meanwhile, Others Call for Tariffs on Lamb Meat, Sugar and Steel-Making Ores

Amb. Jamieson Greer faced the unenviable task of explaining the Trump administration’s tariff policies in a hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on July 22. Influential Democrats opposed tariffs and continued to frame them as taxes on consumers. Meanwhile, the Committee’s Ranking Member, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), rejected the new Section 301 forced labor tariffs, launched on Friday to replace the expiring Section 122 tariffs, which replaced the IEEPA tariffs rejected by the Supreme Court. In response to existing tariff policies, Wyden announced the Congressional Trade Powers Reform Act, a bill that would give Congress veto powers over Executive Branch trade policies.

Greer pushed back against Wyden, saying exports were rising and capital goods imports, mostly for AI data centers, were tied to manufacturing expansion. He said the agriculture trade deficit went from $6.2 billion under Biden to around $3 billion today and told farm state Senators that the U.S. was on the road to an ag trade surplus.

We want an economy that is resilient from shocks and not dependent on foreign production for critical goods. We want an economy with an increased level of manufacturing, certainty of food security, and a robust services sector. We want an economy benefiting from an international economic system that promotes fairness and balance; an economy that prioritizes American workers by protecting them from unfair trading practices and creates economic conditions that raise their wages.

– USTR Jamieson Greer in his opening remarks to the Senate Finance Committee, July 22, 2026

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) named two reports – one by Treasury and one by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) – that purportedly said that tariffs led to a $1,700 charge per American. That CBO report, likely to be this one here published in June 2025, did not mention that number. The real number came from the Democratic Party members of the Joint Economic Committee, which released a separate report in February 2026 that touted those numbers.

For his part, Greer said Treasury and CBO never came out with such numbers.

More Tariff Investigations Requested

Despite leading Democrats being vocal against tariffs, Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) was supportive. She discussed iron ores, namely taconite, and the potential for sugar tariffs.

On taconite, a low-grade iron ore found in Minnesota and used to make steel, Smith expressed concerns about a constituent company called Hibbing Taconite Company, which is currently idle, reportedly due to oversupply in the local market.

However, one of the bigger surprises was Smith’s inquiry about a Section 301 investigation into sugar, long considered an American ag and tariff policy success story.

“We have a situation where there is a glut of global supply from subsidized sugar and that sugar can be sold into the United States with the tariff – under the tariff rate quota – and it’s being sold here at a cost lower than what domestic sugar producers can sell for,” she said.

A bipartisan, bicameral group of more than 100 elected officials signed a letter to Greer dated May 20, 2026 to request a Section 301 investigation into sugar imports in May. That letter was signed by Tina Smith, along with her Minnesota colleague Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Rick Scott (R-FL), among others hailing from domestic sugar-producing states.

Greer said USTR was currently working with the domestic industry to assess their view of trading practices impacting their ability to stay in the market. “We’re committed to working with them,” he said. “We’re gathering a lot of information from them right now because we want to see action, too.”

Trade Enforcement Gains Relevance Among Senate Finance Leadership

Per usual, the Committee’s farm state senators pushed for more market access for agriculture. Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) is a solid example of how that conversation continues to play out on Capitol Hill. He wants more exports, inquired about China buying U.S. beef in latest trade agreements, and wanted more open markets. His concerns seem to stand counter to the general zeitgeist in the country, which is more concerned about rising beef prices.

Barrasso also expressed concern about lamb meat imports and was supportive of a pending investigation by the International Trade Commission (ITC). The USTR requested this investigation on July 13.

Greer did not predict where the ITC will land during their review of imported lamb meat.

“I was in Utah last week and I met with farmers who literally were crying tears of joy that this had been initiated,” Greer said about the pending ITC investigation. “We’ll see how that investigation turns out and take action if appropriate.”

Committee members were mostly supportive of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) being continued, and hardly anyone criticized the Trump administration for not immediately renewing the agreement on July 1. Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) advocated for keeping it, though he is becoming more vocal about trade deal enforcement. For Crapo, trade enforcement is as much about countries importing from the U.S. what they have agreed to in the deal, and about holding countries and their companies accountable when they breach trade agreements with volume surges into the U.S.

“Market access must be paired with strong enforcement for USMCA and other trade agreements to remain effectual,” Sen. Crapo said in his opening remarks. “Robust trade enforcement ensures a level playing field and sends a clear signal that the United States stands behind its farmers, workers and businesses.”

Enforcement is becoming a key part of the Chairman’s language now. For years, Crapo’s trade views have been centered on opening agriculture markets and more free trade, not less.

“Enforcement is so important to our administration,” Greer told the Senate Finance Committee last week. “Trade enforcement means tariffs. Even when you have dispute settlement or a formal process that goes on for years, at the end of the day, if you win, a tariff is the implementing sanction.”

Greer In Mexico. Some Democrats Anxious About Canada

Greer left for Mexico on Friday. He told the Committee that he hopes USMCA partners can have a better understanding of one another by year’s end, with an “intermediate agreement by December.”

It is becoming clearer that the two countries – Mexico and Canada – may see different trade agreements opposed to the more one-size-fits-all deal from previous administrations’ versions.

Democrats are aligned with Republicans in maintaining the USMCA. Agriculture is still a key fork in the road for trade policy, especially as it relates to imports and inflation.

“I was just home for six open-to-all town hall meetings in rural Oregon in communities where Donald Trump got more than 70 percent of the vote, and I can tell you, the wheat farmers in Eastern Oregon told me they are barely hanging on to family farms,” Wyden said. “They’re getting hammered by high prices for key inputs.”

Wyden is increasingly and overtly anti-tariff in hearings; even more so than Crapo ever was as far back as 2018 when the first tariff regimes on China began. Wyden said the Trump administration had “lost the plot” on tariffs with the announced 50 percent tariffs on hundreds of Canadian goods, supposedly beginning on Aug. 19.

Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) said Canadians are taking out their ire against Trump trade policy by canceling Vermont travel. He named some local companies, like outdoor retailer Orvis and a cheese maker who were seeing higher prices for their Canadian imports and were laying off workers as a result.

“Can you give me some assurance that there’ll be more clarity and certainty to the tariff policy and, frankly, a respectful engagement, even if negotiations are tough, so we’re treating Canadians as the long-time friends of Vermont that they’ve been?” he asked.

“Canada has benefited from the best trade agreement, even under the President’s trade policy since last April,” Greer said. “The vast majority of what they’re sending to us has come in preferentially. It has remained that way. We’re fighting against a ban on American liquor on shelves. We’re fighting against hard caps on American-made cars. We’ve never banned (or limited) Canadian products. But we’re fighting against caps on American cheese. I think about Vermont cheese producers. They should be exporting to Canada, but they can’t because Canada limits or refuses this,” he said, adding that his talks with his Canadian counterpart did not reveal any plans to retaliate should the 50 percent tariffs kick in next month.

Despite Democrats’ opposition, it is fair to say that many of them are lukewarm to tariffs as a tool. Some are in agreement with recent, controversial trade moves, such as the new tariffs on Brazil.

Lastly, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) expressed his support for tariffs on Brazil based on deforestation and its agriculture benefits. He applauded the move and told Greer to “keep pushing to make sure countries we trade with have similar environmental regulations.”

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