US to knock on Asia's door for access to markets

Hearing makes clear worries about fallout of tariff threats on world's largest importer

- Bhagyashree Garekar

Trade winds have blown a certain way for decades: Asia has mostly been the exporter and the US the biggest importer. Asia is also the producer, while the US is the consumer with an enormous appetite.

That may be about to change, as the White House, under new management, looks for ways to cut the largest trade deficit in the world, amounting to more than a trillion dollars.

Most nations run huge trade surpluses with the world's largest economy, which buys more goods from the rest of the world than it sells.

At a congressional confirmation hearing for US President Donald Trump's prospective chief trade negotiator Jamieson Greer, senator after senator had the same demand: Amp up the market for America's wares - from apples and whiskey to energy, digital goods and services.

The Feb 6 hearing, held days after the White House fired the opening shots of a trade war, also made clear that US political elites are worried about the fallout of Mr Trump's tariff threats on a country where millions hold trade-related jobs.

The other source of unhappiness was Mr Trump's push for universal tariffs, a campaign promise that he would impose at least 10 per cent on all goods from all countries.

There was no sufficient rationale or precedence for such sweeping measures, the senators said.

Such tariffs would also impact Singapore, which is among a few countries to have a trade deficit with the US.

Mr Greer, 44, who played a key role in negotiating the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the phase one trade deal with China during Mr Trump's first term, was rarely on the back foot during the three-hour hearing.

Unlike Mr Trump's more controversial nominees, such as Mr Robert F. Kennedy Jr for health secretary, Mr Kash Patel for chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Ms Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, Mr Greer's candidature faced hardly any resistance.