April 10, 2025 Story by: Editor
Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s trade representative Jamieson Greer on US’ abrupt tariff pause during a committee hearing Wednesday.
Greer was in the middle of his testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee when President Donald Trump announced that he was pausing his new tariffs on most nations for 90 days.The president also announced he was raising tariffs on Chinese imports to 125 percent.
“So, the trade representative hasn’t spoken to the President of the United States about a global reordering of trade and yet he announced it on a tweet? WTF, who’s in charge?” Horsford said, before arguing, “It looks like your boss just pulled the rug out from under you and paused the tariffs, the taxes on the American people.”
Minutes later, Rep. Horsford, (D-Nev)., asked Greer whether he knew this pause was under discussion. He criticized the Trump official for either withholding information about the incoming strategy or being completely unaware of it.
Greer defended his testimony, saying that he doesn’t disclose his conversations with the President.
“These are real consequences for the American people and small businesses,” the lawmaker responded. “I had a group of small businesses in my office earlier today talking about the impacts of these tariffs on aluminum and steel.”
Horsford detailed some of the effects for American consumers from the recent market turmoil caused by the threat of major global tariffs — including losses to retirement funds and college savings funds, and consequences for small businesses.
“If it was a plan, if it was always the plan, how is this not market manipulation?” Horsford asked.
“It’s not market manipulation, sir,” Greer said.
“It is not a strategy,” Horsford added.
“We’re trying to reset the global trade system,” Greer responded.
Trump said in his Truth Social post that he was authorizing a pause because more than 75 countries had reached out to negotiate trade deals, and that those countries had not retaliated against his moves. The president also said he was lowering reciprocal tariffs to 10 percent for those countries “effective immediately.”
Trump said later on Wednesday that he instituted the pause because people were getting “yippy” and “afraid.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Trump’s global trade war a “successful negotiating strategy” in remarks at the White House after the announcement.
“How long is the pause? How many days? How many weeks?” Horsford asked.
“I understand it’s 90 days, I haven’t spoken to the president –” Greer began to say before Horsford responded.
“There’s no strategy you just found out three seconds ago, sitting here, we saw you,” he said, while also asking Greer why he hadn’t disclosed plans to pause the tariffs earlier in the testimony if he was aware beforehand of the president’s eventual announcement.
Greer said the president “is in charge” and that he doesn’t disclose his “conversations with the president.”
“This is amateur hour, and it needs to stop,” Horsford exclaimed. “What does this even mean for your negotiating strategy? How are you in charge of negotiation if the president is tweeting about this from wherever the hell he is?”
Source: PBS
