No tariff exemptions for now: US official

The market rebounded on Tuesday on hopes that negotiations will convince the president to lower or suspend the tariffs

- Associated Press

WASHINGTON: United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said exemptions to President Donald Trump's global tariffs are not expected in the near term. "The president has been clear, again, that he's not doing exemptions or exceptions in the near term," Greer told the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday.

The nation's top trade representative also said the sweeping tariffs are already getting results, bringing other countries to the negotiating table to discuss reducing their trade barriers.

Greer addressed the committee a day after global markets swung wildly and some business leaders lambasted the president's aggressive bid to raise tariffs on almost every nation on earth.

Greer testified that "about 50" countries have sought talks to escape Trump's import tariffs. He said, for example, that Vietnam is cutting its own tariffs on apples, almonds and cherries.

He also defended the Trump administration's decision to apply a 10% tariff on Australia despite a free trade agreement, citing the country's ban on imports of US beef and pork.

"We should be running up the score in Australia," Greer told a Senate Finance Committee hearing. "Despite the agreement, they ban our beef, they ban our pork."

The import taxes are designed to reduce America's massive trade deficits, but Greer conceded that the adjustment might "be challenging at times." Congress is getting jittery about Trump's trade wars, especially since stocks collapsed after he announced broad tariffs on Wednesday.

The market rebounded on Tuesday on hopes that negotiations will convince the president to lower or suspend the tariffs, the biggest of which are set to take effect at midnight on Wednesday.

The Constitution grants Congress the power to impose taxes, including tariffs. However, over the years, lawmakers have increasingly delegated that authority to the executive branch, allowing presidents greater discretion in setting trade rules.