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The Playbook Podcast

April 8, 2025: Trump's trade chief heads to Capitol Hill

The Playbook Podcast

POLITICO

News, Daily News, Government, Politics

3.9699 Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will be in the hot seat today as he testifies in front of the Senate Finance Committee, where he's expected to defend President Donald Trump's global tariff hike. Trump has sent mixed messages about whether his new tariffs are permanent or up for negotiation, although there are some signs that Trump is entertaining offers. Meanwhile, tensions with China are flaring. Trump told Beijing to withdraw its reciprocal tariffs by today, or else he’ll hike tariffs on China by another 50 percent. POLITICO trade reporter Daniel Desrochers breaks it all down with host Steven Overly. Plus, the House is slow-marching toward its vote on a budget blueprint, which could happen as soon as tomorrow.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Presented by BP.

0:05.5

Good morning, everyone. I'm Stephen Overley. It's Tuesday, April 8th, and what's driving the day should really come as no surprise. Tariffs.

0:16.0

Wall Street may need to pop some drama mean after the big swings the market took yesterday.

0:21.8

And so far, there's no sign of things settling down.

0:25.5

But before delving into the latest in President Donald Trump's trade war,

0:29.4

a few other stories to watch today.

0:31.7

First, over on Capitol Hill, the House is slow marching toward its vote on a budget blueprint,

0:39.1

which my political colleagues report could happen as soon as tomorrow, but the talks are tenuous. With a very narrow majority,

0:46.1

Speaker Mike Johnson is banking on almost every member of his caucus to vote with him, even the

0:52.0

spending hogs. Meanwhile, Trump notched a few small wins in his legal

0:57.0

fight over deportations. On Monday, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts postponed a deadline

1:04.5

for officials to bring a Maryland man back to the U.S. after he was illegally deported to El Salvador.

1:11.7

The Supreme Court also ruled that Trump could continue deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.

1:18.6

A wartime law, he used to deport Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador last month.

1:24.7

But the decision wasn't a complete victory for the president.

1:28.4

The court also determined those migrants have a right to challenge their deportations in court.

1:35.1

But back to tariffs. Trump has sent mixed messages about whether his new tariffs are permanent

1:40.5

or up for negotiation. During a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin

1:46.1

Netanyahu, Trump said they could be both, but there are some signs Trump is entertaining

1:51.8

offers. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who privately urged Trump to get to the negotiating

1:58.0

table, announced Monday he's brokering a trade pact with Japan,

2:02.6

and the European Union is offering to scrap tariffs on industrial goods, like cars and chemicals,

...

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