Marsha Blackburn Questions Trade Rep Jamieson Greer About Foreign 'Regulatory Abuse'

2 days ago

At today's Senate Finance Committee hearing, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) questioned U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer about foreign environmental standards blocking U.S. trade.

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Transcript

00:00Chairman. Senator Blackburn. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for being here today.

00:07I know you have had a busy week, and we appreciate that and appreciate what the President is trying

00:15to do for the broader economy. And, of course, it is encouraging to hear that we have 70 countries

00:23that are coming in to negotiate tariffs and some of those non-tariff barriers that have existed.

00:31So we're grateful for all that work. I do want to ask you about some of the foreign governments

00:37using bogus environmental regulations to really sideline American businesses. And the EU's

00:47new deforestation regulation is a great example of this, imposing excessive reporting requirements

00:57that would shut out Tennessee pulp and paper producers from foreign markets. And also, we're

01:06seeing some of these foreign governments actually seize U.S. assets under false pretenses. And

01:13last year, we had a company, Vulcan Materials, which declined to sell its Mexican port to the

01:20government. So armed forces came in and took control of that, citing environmental licensing

01:29requirements. And this is a pattern of regulatory abuse, and it keeps our companies out of the

01:40global market. So how are you working to protect these U.S. businesses and to deal with these

01:47foreign governments who are weaponizing their bogus regulations to restrict the market access?

01:54Well, Senator, I always find it troubling when countries use these kind of measures as a

02:00protectionist measure. Our companies, whether they're making here and exporting or going elsewhere

02:06to produce in other countries, are always the cleanest and most responsible, always. And we

02:11should always have the best treatment under those kinds of regimes. So with respect to the two

02:16examples you noted on the Vulcan issue, I've raised this personally with Mexican trade officials,

02:22and with respect to the EU forestry regulation, my understanding is right now it's a little bit on

02:28pause. While they themselves look at it and take a second look, and I'm, you know, I talk to my

02:32counterparts in Europe frequently, and this is something where I want to make sure that they're

02:36treating us appropriately under this law and not discriminating against us. That's wonderful. If

02:40I could get in writing from you an update on the Vulcan port issue, that would be helpful also.

02:47We're happy to do that, Senator. Thank you. I want to talk about digital trade because

02:53President Trump really has shown great leadership when it comes to digital trade,

02:58trade. And that was a part of the negotiations on the USMCA. And it really gave us a very robust and

03:08ambitious digital trade chapter. And the provisions, including cross-border data flows and data

03:17localization, are critical to facilitating strategic U.S. initiatives across a broad range of industries.

03:27And we have an opportunity now to build on this digital chapter. So, and I think that could really

03:37pave a way to add other provisions on critical issues such as AI, such as quantum computing, that we are

03:48dealing with. So, how could you use this digital trade chapter that we have in the USMCA to expand that

03:58globally as we look at negotiating new trade agreements?

04:03Well, I think it's important to understand that our companies, our digital trade companies, are the

04:07most competitive in the world. They're the most effective in the world. And what we don't want is a

04:11situation where they are retaliated against or they're discriminated against such that, you know,

04:18their Chinese competitors actually take up market share. I mean, that would be a disastrous situation.

04:23And so, as countries come to us and want to talk about how to have more reciprocal trade or better

04:28trade actions, I would expect that we want to make sure that they're not discriminating against our

04:32technology companies. And we want to have, we want to make sure we have a level playing field so we can

04:36have the appropriate market access that we want. And whether we do that in, you know, formal trade

04:41agreements or just in commitments from these other countries.

04:43Well, and as you know, digital trade is important to Tennessee.

04:47So, we're looking forward to that. Non-tariff barriers are something that get mentioned

04:54quite a bit as we are talking to companies. I know Vietnam has several non-tariff barriers.

05:01And we've seen this in the USTR's National Trade Estimate Report. And we had a record high deficit

05:11with Vietnam in 2024. And in part, that's because Chinese companies are using Vietnam to transship.

05:20So, will you work to ensure that any possible deal with Vietnam, because I know they've been first to

05:27the table to try to negotiate for a zero tariff. But we want to make certain that whatever is done

05:35includes provisions that will not allow China to reap the benefits of working within shipping through

05:43Vietnam. I agree with you 100%, Senator, whether it's Vietnam or others, if they think they're going

05:49to have some kind of different rate, it can't be one that gives preference to a third country like

05:55China, where they can just take advantage of it or use it to circumvent what we're trying to do.

05:59I agree with you 100% on this point.

06:01Well, thank you for that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Marsha Blackburn Questions Trade Rep Jamieson Greer About Foreign 'Regulatory Abuse'

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