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USTR says semiconductors, pharmaceuticals handled separately; senators seek clarity on exclusions and reshoring incentives
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Summary
Ambassador Greer told the committee that semiconductors and pharmaceuticals are being treated outside the administration's blanket tariff action and that the broader policy is designed to incentivize reshoring; senators sought details on specific exclusions, shipbuilding proposals, and critical-mineral strategy.
Ambassador Jason Greer told senators that the administration has excluded certain sensitive sectors from the blanket reciprocal-tariff action and is pursuing separate reviews and incentives for items deemed crucial to national security and supply-chain resilience.
Greer said areas such as semiconductors and pharmaceuticals were not included in the blanket tariff package because they are the subject of separate investigations or policies. "There were certain sectors, that we excluded from the tariff action because we think they need their own investigation and consideration, whether it comes to tariffs or other actions. This includes semiconductors, it includes pharmaceuticals," Greer testified.
Senators pressed on the scope of those exclusions and on how the administration will promote reshoring. Several members raised the Chips and Science Act and other incentives already enacted to promote onshore semiconductor manufacturing and asked how the new trade measures would interact with those programs. Greer pointed to a mix of executive actions and potential congressional steps — including tax and incentive proposals — as ways to attract production.
Lawmakers also raised sector-specific questions: Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) and others discussed non-tariff barriers to agricultural exports (beef, pork, ethanol); Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) pressed Greer on proposed shipbuilding remedies and potential port impacts; and senators from mineral-producing states asked about critical-mineral processing and whether trade measures would be coupled with domestic industrial policy to reduce China’s processing dominance.
Greer said some targeted proposals — such as shipbuilding incentives — remain under review and that USTR has solicited comments and stakeholder input before finalizing any specific remedies. He told the committee that the best path to long-term certainty is to increase domestic production and that the administration is using tariffs as one lever among others to achieve that objective.
