USTR's Greer says Trump's latest tariffs won't have an economic impact

(Corrects spelling of Bret ‌Baier, paragraph 2)

By ​David ​Lawder

July 27 (Reuters) - U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Monday President Donald Trump's new tariffs on 60 trading partners over their ‌alleged lax enforcement of forced labor bans will likely not have ⁠an economic impact in part because the rates of 10% or 12.5% are similar to ‌recent global tariff actions.

Greer told ‌Fox News Channel's "Special Report with Bret Baier" that the new Section 301 duties are imposed on a smaller group of countries than a ​now-expired 10% temporary tariff, which was universal. But the agency has said that the forced labor duties would still cover 99.4% of U.S. imports.

"Well, ⁠I don't think it has an impact at all," Greer said when asked if the tariffs would ​impact the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision-making this week.

"Now we have a set of tariffs, it's on a smaller ​set, it's not the whole world. A lot ‌of the rates are pretty similar, so it should not have any economic impact that's different than what we've ⁠been experiencing."

Greer said that USTR was continuing to work on another broad tariff investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, targeting excess industrial capacity into ⁠16 key trading partners, including China, Vietnam, Mexico and the European Union. He said, "We're ​going to finish up that investigation hopefully soon, and we'll make a proposal," and added that this could lead to additional tariffs.

Greer defended the use of Section 301, a ‌country-specific unfair trade practices statute, on broad tariffs, saying that the U.S. Supreme Court pointed to it in its ‌decision striking down Trump's broad tariffs imposed under a national emergencies law. During ⁠Trump's first term, Section 301 was ‌invoked to impose steep ​duties on Chinese goods that remain in place despite several court challenges.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Chris Reese and ‌Cynthia Osterman)

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