Overview

• Sen. Thom Tillis criticized President Trump's recently announced tariffs, including a 10% tax on nearly all foreign goods and up to 54% on certain imports, as a potential precursor to a wide-reaching trade war.
• During the hearing, Tillis pressed U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on accountability, asking who would take responsibility if the trade strategy failed.
• Greer defended the administration's approach, emphasizing that the president remains the final decision maker and has ruled out exclusions for the tariffs.
• Tillis and six other Republican senators have backed a bipartisan bill to curtail the president's unilateral authority to impose tariffs, citing concerns about economic fallout and strained trade relationships.
• Critics of the tariffs highlighted the economic damage caused by previous trade wars, particularly to American agriculture, and warned of similar repercussions from the new measures.