The April 22 House Ways and Means Committee hearing, "The Trump Administration's 2026 Trade Policy Agenda," with U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer included discussion of President Trump's tariff policies, the upcoming Joint Review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and digital services taxes (DSTs). Ambassador Greer's April 23 hearing at the Senate Finance Committee was postponed as the Senate adjourned following an overnight vote-a-rama in relation to the FY2026 budget resolution.

In an opening statement at Ways and Means, Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) expressed support for President Trump's tariff policies as providing the United States leverage for trade policy. He expressed concern about US manufacturing, saying the goal of bringing jobs and investment back to the United States cannot be accomplished if trade policies "actually incentivize companies to locate their facilities in Mexico and Canada, rather than the United States."

Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-MA) said the President's tariffs are raising consumer costs but are met with silence from congressional Republicans. "Tariffs can be a tool when used strategically and lawfully. But what we've seen over the past year is neither," he said. "It's been a scattershot, across-the-board approach that punishes American consumers, weakens our competitiveness, and isolates us from our allies."

In testimony, Ambassador Greer said, "Less dependence on foreign countries, expanded exports, and increased prospects for American manufacturing and jobs is exactly what the President's trade policy is supposed to do. Policymakers should be encouraging these trends instead of opposing the tariffs and deals that make them possible." He also said manufacturing productivity surged by 2.4% in the last quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024 and manufacturing wages increased by 4.7%.

During Q&A, Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) said, during the Biden Administration, the US failed to reach new trade agreements and asked what more members can do to expand access to markets. Greer said trade wins and increased market access emanate from the President's efforts on reciprocity and using US leverage for fair market access.

Ranking Member Neal asked whether the Trump Administration may let the new Section 122 tariffs imposed following the Supreme Court ruling on IEEPA expire without imposing new tariffs. Ambassador Greer said the President is not going to go back to the prior approach of not utilizing tariffs. Greer also committed to working with the committee on USMCA renewal. He also said he has had recent discussions with Mexico on issues that include rules of origin and economic security.

Chairman Smith called for a long-term reauthorization of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) after an extension through 2026 was approved in the February appropriations bill. Smith asked whether Greer would commit to a long-term reauthorization by the end of the year. Greer said the Administration does commit to work with Congress on a long-term reauthorization of AGOA and that USTR will "very shortly" issue a Federal Register notice to solicit public input on how to modernize the program. Greer added that USTR would likely work with Congress on renewing the Haiti trade preference program in conjunction with AGOA, without specifying a duration.

Chairman Smith further said that as Canada, EU, and France continue to impose DSTs and other digital measures, this Congress will not tolerate the use of such taxes to target US companies and may enact legislation in response if necessary. He asked when potential Section 301 investigations related to digital issues may occur and whether they will focus on particular economies and cover country-specific measures like DSTs. Greer said that US digital trade companies are some of the most effective in the world and, while the government has Section 301 actions readied in draft, USTR wants to see outcomes rather than simply imposing tariffs for the sake of doing so. He said he would discuss the issue of DSTs with the European Union trade commissioner on Friday. "We do have these tools in our toolkit," he said of the investigations.

Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS) lauded USTR's work to achieve agreements to prevent DSTs and said he expects the Administration will continue to be active as more countries pursue these taxes and related approaches like Canada's Online Streaming Act. Greer said he recently spoke with the Trade Minister of Poland about a proposed DST, and the increased tariffs on France were a cautionary tale. "With Canada, they implemented it, and immediately we worked with them to get it down and they just repealed that a few weeks ago," he said. "So, we are seeing progress on this front. We're working with our European partners right now on this."

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) expressed concern about the loss of manufacturing jobs. Under the previous Administration, Thompson said, job creation grew due to the CHIPs and Science Act, Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) through renewable energy credits, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. "The current Administration has killed that progress," he said.

Testimony is available here.