US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during a Bloomberg Television interview outside the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, December 19, 2025.
Stephanie Reynolds | Bloomberg | getty images
“The whole reason the President imposed these tariffs was to try to address our massive imbalance in trade that we have experienced for many years because of China, Vietnam, the EU and others,” Greer said.
“If companies are going to get this windfall, they should give it to their employees in the form of bonuses or pay raises, because that’s the purpose of the program. That’s always been the purpose of the program. And the American people should get it, and companies should give it to their employees.”
The Supreme Court, in its ruling last month, had said that Trump did not have the authority to impose tariffs on imports from most of the world’s countries under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, exercising authority to impose such tariffs.
Treasury Secretary Scott Besant has said he expects tariffs to return to levels seen before the Supreme Court decision by August, as the Trump administration uses various other authorities to impose tariffs on imports.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Greer’s office launched trade investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 into a total of about 80 countries and economies. The scope of the investigation includes China, Japan, India, Mexico and the European Union.
Section 301 allows the United States to impose tariffs on imports from countries found to engage in unfair trade practices.
Trump invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act to impose a global tariff of 10% on imports. Those tariffs only last for 150 days unless Congress approves an extension.