U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer hinted Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s additional tariffs are on the way.
Asked on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” if new tariffs would be imposed, Greer said, “I’m hopeful that some action will be taken soon,” given the FT’s report that additional tariffs could be announced as early as this week.
“I can’t really specify a specific timeline at this point, and I have a responsibility to explain things to Congress and other stakeholders before we actually reveal anything like that,” Greer said.
“But we expect action soon,” he added.
The comments suggest the Trump administration may be poised to introduce new tariffs, just as some of President Trump’s other import tariffs are set to expire on Friday.
President Trump imposed a flat 10% tariff in February under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, hours after the Supreme Court struck down his sweeping “Emancipation Day” tariff system. Section 122 tariffs expire at 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday unless Congress intervenes, which seems unlikely.
However, the Trump administration has already taken steps to strengthen the tariff system.
In early June, the U.S. Trade Representative proposed imposing additional tariffs of up to 12.5% on imports from 60 countries. The new obligation is imposed under a separate section of the Trade Act of 1974, known as Section 301, and would be imposed in response to allegations of forced labor.
“There are laws in the United States that prohibit trading goods with forced labor,” Greer said in an interview Tuesday. “In other countries, most countries don’t have laws, and even those that have laws don’t really enforce them.”
Greer said the 301 proposed tariffs on 60 countries would cover “about 99% of our trade.”
“This really shows the scale of the problem we’re facing,” he says.
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