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Greer Defends the 2026 Trade Policy Agenda Before Senate Finance, Jul. 22, 2026

July 22, 2026 · CNBC Television · 1:35:58

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What happened

United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer testified on July 22, 2026, before the Senate Committee on Finance at its rescheduled hearing on “The President’s 2026 Trade Policy Agenda,” carried in full by CNBC Television. In his opening statement, published by USTR, Greer told the committee the national emergency behind the tariff program — a $1.2 trillion trade deficit that had grown 40 percent in the prior four years — still existed: “The specific authorities this Administration is using have changed, but the trade strategy has not,” he said. “Specifically, we are continuing to impose tariffs and negotiate deals to support the reindustrialization of our economy, protect American workers and increase their wages, and shrink our trade deficit.” He reported that the United States had 19 framework or reciprocal trade deals covering 32 percent of global gross domestic product.

The hearing’s sharpest fight was over Canada. Greer defended newly announced 50 percent tariffs on a set of Canadian goods, telling senators the duties applied to only “a small handful of goods” — about $20 billion of Canada’s annual exports, against more than $380 billion in U.S. goods imports from Canada in 2025, as USTR figures cited in reporting put it — and were tailored to Canadian practices affecting U.S. alcohol, dairy, and auto industries, with an August 19 effective date. After the hearing he told reporters, “For us, this is business. This is trade. This is economics. We’re looking at bottom lines,” as Newsmax reported. Senator Bernie Sanders pressed the fentanyl rationale for the Canada actions, citing Customs and Border Protection data showing 43 pounds — about two-tenths of one percent of seizures — came across the northern border. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse challenged Greer’s statement that the tariffs’ cost was borne by foreign companies rather than consumers. Greer also said he would travel to Mexico City for the next round of USMCA talks, warned that Mexican anti-dumping action on U.S. pork would bring consequences, tied progress to Mexico honoring the 1944 Rio Grande water treaty, and declined to give a timeline for the administration’s next tariff structure as its 10 percent global tariff, imposed under a 150-day statute, was set to expire that Friday.

Why it matters

This is the Senate-side sequel to Greer’s April 22, 2026 Ways and Means appearance and the fullest statement of the trade program’s second phase: the deals tally he reported here, the Canada escalation, and the USMCA review that opened July 1, 2026 are the dated benchmarks the rest of his 2026 record is measured against.

Scoreboard watch

This is a candidate item for the weekly scoreboard: Greer’s July 22, 2026 testimony — 19 framework or reciprocal deals covering 32 percent of global GDP; 50 percent tariffs on about $20 billion of Canadian goods effective August 19; and the USMCA talks with Mexico and Canada — each as stated at the hearing, to be checked against USTR’s subsequent agreements and the review’s course.

Sources: Senate Committee on Finance, “The President’s 2026 Trade Policy Agenda,” July 22, 2026 (full hearing as carried by CNBC Television, embedded above); USTR, “Opening Statement by Ambassador Greer Before the Senate Finance Committee,” July 22, 2026; Washington Council EY, trade alert, July 22, 2026; Newsmax, July 22, 2026, on Greer’s post-hearing remarks. All figures and characterizations as stated by Ambassador Greer and committee members at the hearing.