U.S. pushes tougher trade toolkit
U.S. trade officials are asking Congress for more funding to expand trade investigations and to pursue so‑called reciprocal tariffs, signaling an institutional push to make tariffs a regular tool against China ( ). Advocates frame the move around America's goods deficit and market access complaints, while analysts note that tariffs alone tend to be blunt unless paired with stronger domestic industry and export competitiveness measures ( ).
U.S. trade officials are asking Congress for more money to widen trade investigations and keep “reciprocal” tariffs at the center of trade policy. (scmp.com) Trade Representative Jamieson Greer pressed that case at a House Appropriations budget hearing on April 16, 2026, one week before he is due back on Capitol Hill for a Ways and Means hearing on April 22. House Republicans scheduled the April 16 session as part of the fiscal 2027 budget process. (appropriations.house.gov, waysandmeans.house.gov) The administration’s case is that trade deficits and foreign barriers justify a more permanent tariff apparatus. In a February 13, 2025 memorandum, President Donald Trump ordered agencies to build a “Fair and Reciprocal Plan,” and on April 2, 2025 he declared a national emergency tied to “large and persistent annual United States goods trade deficits.” (whitehouse.gov, whitehouse.gov) That April 2025 order imposed a 10% baseline tariff on many imports and added higher country-specific “reciprocal” rates for dozens of trading partners. A House of Lords Library review said those higher rates ranged from 10% to 50% and appeared to track U.S. goods deficits and import levels more closely than published tariff schedules abroad. (lordslibrary.parliament.uk) The machinery is still expanding. NBC News reported on March 11, 2026 that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative opened Section 301 investigations into 16 major trading partners, including China, the European Union, Mexico, Japan, India, Taiwan and Vietnam. (nbcnews.com) Greer has tied the funding request to staffing and enforcement capacity. A National Taxpayers Union brief summarizing the fiscal 2027 request said USTR is seeking an 8% budget increase to add 27 full-time equivalent employees, while Senate Appropriations testimony said Trump requested $72 million for salaries and expenses and $23 million for the Trade Enforcement Trust Fund. (ntu.org, appropriations.senate.gov) Greer has also argued that China still has leverage over U.S. agriculture and critical supply chains. In remarks reported April 17, he said Beijing “always use[s] our farmers as a target” when Washington challenges what he called unfair trade practices, and he linked the tougher posture to efforts to break China’s grip on critical minerals. (scmp.com) Supporters of the tariff push say the United States has kept its market more open than many rivals and has tolerated foreign tariffs, subsidies, taxes and regulatory barriers for too long. The White House memorandum listed those complaints in detail, including value-added taxes, exchange-rate policies, subsidies and other non-tariff barriers. (whitehouse.gov) Economists and foreign governments have answered that tariffs are a blunt instrument that can raise prices and invite retaliation. The House of Lords Library said many economists view tariffs unfavorably for exactly those reasons, even as some argue they can help domestic industry under specific conditions. (lordslibrary.parliament.uk) Congress now has two separate decisions in front of it: whether to fund a larger trade-enforcement shop, and whether to accept tariffs as a standing feature of U.S. economic policy rather than a temporary negotiating threat. (appropriations.house.gov, waysandmeans.house.gov)
