Tariffs wildly successful, more coming: USTR

Washington: The US tariff policy has been "wildly successful," and the Trump administration was planning such measures to replace those overturned by the Supreme Court, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said.Greer, in an interview with The New York Times, said the Trump administration had changed the US trade policy of 70 years in the past year and the new measures have resulted in reducing the trade deficit and reshoring of businesses."They are.

Yeah.

I think we've been wildly successful," Greer said to a question on whether the tariff regime was delivering results.Greer said the administration acted quickly because it viewed America's widening trade deficit as an economic emergency that required decisive action.Also read | Taxman looks to ease GST burden for India Inc"At the end of the day, we are winning in changing the trade policy.

We're winning in getting the trade deficit down.

We're winning in reshoring.

We're winning in wages.

We're winning on all these things.

So I'm happy with where we are and where we're going," he said.According to the New York Times, the Trump administration was working to recreate the tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court with the levies planned on countries using forced labour in manufacturing, and surplus production.Greer contended that broad tariffs had allowed the US to negotiate new trade arrangements with several partners.The US trade chief said the tariff policy was driven purely through an economic perspective instead of a foreign policy approach.Also read | New Green Card uncertainty for Indians"This is not a foreign policy shop.

This is an economics shop here.

And so when I look at someone like the European Union that blocks American agricultural goods for specious, nonscientific reasons, that's a problem.

Friend or foe, that's an issue," he said in response to a question that the tariff policy was hard on traditional allies.Greer said the administration's approach had helped the United States negotiate trade deals with the United Kingdom, the European Union, Indonesia, India and Japan.He said that the Supreme Court had struck down a significant portion of the administration's tariff programme but insisted he had no regrets about the strategy."No, I don't have any - well, I regret that the Supreme Court went the wrong way.

But I mean, that's their fault.

That's not ours," Greer said when asked whether he had any regrets about the legal strategy on tariffs.He said the administration was already pursuing alternative legal authorities to preserve its trade agenda and remained committed to fundamentally changing decades of US trade policy."We're not really about going out and changing the world.

We're trying to change the terms of trade," he said."It does mean, to the extent we have to take measures in other countries, we will.

But it's less that we're anti any particular country and more we are just pro-America," Greer said. ...