Rick Schweitzer, President Trump's nominee for deputy U.S. trade representative covering Asia, told the Senate Finance Committee he would seek systemic responses to intellectual-property theft, push for trade reciprocity and work to bolster supply-chain resilience if confirmed.

Schweitzer described two priorities in opening remarks: enforcing U.S. intellectual property rights and improving supply-chain resilience for critical sectors such as semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. He told the committee he would “use every tool at our disposal” — including the Special 301 report and other USTR authorities — and favor systemic trade actions against persistent countrywide coercive practices rather than “one‑off” cases.

Committee concerns and exchanges
Senators from both parties pressed Schweitzer on multiple fronts: tariffs and their effects on small businesses and tourism, environmental standards and carbon leakage, ocean plastic pollution, and critical‑minerals and uranium supply chains.

- Intellectual property and China: Schweitzer said his decades of experience working in China give him “a systemic approach” to intellectual‑property theft and coercive practices and that USTR would take on “coercive practices head on.” He described private firms’ reluctance to be publicly identified and argued for country‑level measures rather than individual case prosecutions.

- Tariffs, tourism and allies: Senators asked whether the administration would reevaluate tariffs that affect allies and U.S. service exports. Schweitzer acknowledged tourism and travel are important U.S. services exports and committed to learn more about how trade policies affect states like Nevada; he said he would work with Commerce and other agencies where appropriate.

- Environment and trade: Senators asked Schweitzer to consider trade tools to address environmental harms, such as ocean plastic waste and carbon pollution. He said trade agreements can embed high‑quality environmental safeguards and that USTR intends to pursue those commitments.

- Critical minerals and uranium: Schweitzer agreed to work with Congress on preventing circumvention of bans on adversary‑sourced uranium and on building resilient domestic critical‑minerals supply chains with allies and industry.

Context and next steps
Schweitzer emphasized interagency coordination, consultation with Congress and partnership with allies as central to his approach. He repeatedly invoked trade reciprocity and “de‑risking” rather than wholesale decoupling from China, and he told senators he would seek binding commitments where appropriate.

The committee will request written follow-up on specifics once the nominee is in office. A committee vote to report Schweitzer’s nomination to the full Senate was announced but not recorded in the hearing transcript.