WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a senior member and former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and a lifelong family farmer, today questioned U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer about the impact of and goals for tariff usage. As one immediate way to support farmers, Grassley is calling on the administration to restore integrity to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) by raising Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) levels for biomass-based diesel and advanced biofuels.
In response to Grassley, Greer reiterated President Trump's recent comments that he is “happy to engage in negotiations immediately with countries that believe that they can help us reduce our deficit and get rid of non-tariff barriers...” Further, Greer noted that tariff negotiations will happen “country by country.”
Video and excerpts of Grassley’s questions follow.
“I support President Trump's agenda to lower tariffs and non-tariff barriers other countries impose on American goods. I support President Trump's agenda to get a better deal from China and other countries for our farmers and manufacturers.
“In fact, even back in 2003, I sent a letter to the Chinese Minister of Commerce at that time pointing out China's failure to live up to its World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations. And then, I went further in 2018 when I was on Senator Daines’ CODEL. I told top Chinese leaders I made a mistake supporting China in the WTO.”
“So far in this administration, we've seen even more sweeping tariffs, with some countries already retaliating [against] agriculture, including China. I have been very vocal in my wait-and-see approach to these tariffs because I believe President Trump and you, Mr. Ambassador, are using them to get fairer trade for Americans with many countries. If that's not the case, level with me.
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“My question to you is, in the medium to the long term, do you plan to turn these tariffs into trade deals to reduce tariffs and non-tariff barriers? I support that. On the other hand, if the purpose is to stall on negotiations in order to keep tariffs high for the sole purpose of feeding the U.S. Treasury, I oppose that.”
“We all know agriculture is usually the first place of retaliation. In response to Chinese retaliation to tariffs, the first Trump administration set up the Market Facilitation Program for farmers, which gave direct payments to farmers affected by the tariffs. This helped farmers weather the short-term impact of trade retaliation. But as you know, farmers still overwhelmingly want to get their money from the marketplace and not from a government check.”
On Restoring Integrity to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS):
“To help farmers in the meantime, instead of relying on payments from the government, I'm going to give a suggestion … The administration could move very quickly to increase RVOs on the Renewable Fuel Standard so that farmers get more robust domestic markets for their crops. And one place to start would be where the Biden administration came up short with RVOs, only three and 1/10th billion over a three-year period of time on biodiesel, to make that 5.3 [billion] as far as you can see into the future. And that would very dramatically increase soybean prices.”
On Congress’ Authority to Regulate Interstate and Foreign Commerce:
“I made very clear throughout my public service that I'm a free and fair trader. The Constitution gives Congress the authority to regulate interstate and foreign commerce. I believe that Congress delegated too much authority to the president in the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and Trade Act of 1974.”
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