Cantwell Grills SBA Nom: Do You Think Trump's 'Tariff First Approach Is Helpful To Small Business?'

2 days ago

During a Senate Small Business Committee hearing last week, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) spoke about the possible effects that President Trump's tariffs may have on small businesses.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you so much. Welcome to the nominees for your positions.

00:09I know that you probably have given a statement that I haven't been able to read yet, so we'll

00:14look at that. But I wanted to ask you about this pressing issue on tariffs. First, Dr.

00:20Mulligan, do you think that the President's tariff-first approach is helpful to small

00:25business? Can you describe the impact of tariffs on Mexico and Canada, two of our largest

00:30trading partners, what you think that would have on small businesses?

00:36Thank you for your question. It's good to see you again. Trade policy absolutely must

00:41consider the concerns of small businesses, and Congress created an independent office

00:45to advocate for them. President Trump, more than any president in U.S. history, has prioritized

00:50getting that chief counsel position filled. If it goes unfilled too long, we could be

00:55in a position where it is mainly the big companies that are heard around trade policy rather

01:00than the small ones.

01:02Okay. Did you have – oh, so you think in general, because there's less flexibility

01:14and maneuvering, you're saying it could be a bigger concern?

01:18And also that their voice in Washington is weak without having an office like advocacy

01:24at full capacity and full efficiency.

01:28And what do you think that we should be doing to communicate about the impact of tariffs

01:37on those small businesses?

01:40One thing – very important, maybe the primary thing that the Office of Advocacy does is

01:45go out to the small businesses where they are. They don't require them to know what

01:49phone number to call or where to visit in Washington, what door and what elevator to

01:52use. Go out to them, sometimes in virtual mode as well, especially for the rural, and

01:59listen. Just listen, write down, and come back to the makers of the policy, trade policy

02:05or other agencies, and tell them, hey, here's the concerns that we heard from our businesses.

02:11And the RFA requires you to consider those concerns when you make your policy decision.

02:18Thank you. Mr. Briggs, do you have any comments?

02:23With respect to – thank you, Senator Cantwell, for the question. I just would note that from

02:28my understanding of the tariff proposal, part of that is to bring back manufacturing, onshore

02:33manufacturing to this country. We've seen some initial indicators based on employment

02:38numbers that 11,000 manufacturing jobs in the last – or the previous month were started.

02:44I do think that this is part of a larger effort to ultimately do that, to bring back manufacturing

02:49to the country.

02:50Well, I definitely agree with you on the manufacturing jobs. And I would say to my colleague from

02:58Ohio who was ably chairing the meeting that I'm very concerned, because I think that

03:03we have brought back – we have brought back jobs in – manufacturing jobs into the United

03:10States because of the Chips and Science Act. So the President right now – it's a different

03:14story – but is saying, I don't – you know, maybe he wants to get rid of that.

03:17I would say for places like Ohio and Arizona and Texas, it has absolutely brought manufacturing

03:23back. And in the state of Washington, it's brought manufacturing back.

03:25Why we should care is because manufacturing jobs help people go from middle class – working

03:31class – to middle class because they're good-paying jobs. And they help small businesses

03:35in that region help build an ecosystem.

03:38So I do think the President's statement that somehow he could have gotten there – he

03:43could have gotten the semiconductor industry to come back and manufacture in the United

03:46States by tariffs, I don't agree with that. We may have a philosophical difference there.

03:51But the point is, is that I hear so many people saying that we haven't grown manufacturing

03:57jobs, and the Biden administration, because of those policies, did grow manufacturing

04:01jobs.

04:02So now the question is, how do we put pedal to the metal and keep growing it? And one

04:06of the things that I think a lot of people have been discussing is, how can the policies

04:13of the Small Business Administration, with access to capital and targeting some of these

04:18supply chain issues, give the American economy a leg up?

04:24So for example, in my state, we have a lot of three different fusion companies. Now we'll

04:29see if fusion technology is really here today. Senator Risch and I chair a fusion caucus

04:35– well, it's a group that's made recommendations to the United States about how we would accelerate.

04:42But when you think about ships and science, it's about, let's get the test bedding

04:45done, let's get the next generation done, and then let's make sure we have the supply

04:50chain to accelerate. And if we can just accelerate now, whether it's fusion or something else,

04:57let's start working with our supply chains and small businesses so that they are providing

05:02those products here in the United States. And so I just want to – do you think that's

05:06a smart strategy?

05:08Senator, thank you for your question. And I assume you're addressing me, not Dr. Mulligan.

05:15Yes, because of your deputy administrator.

05:18I generally think – support your remarks that manufacturing can start a small business

05:24ecosystem. My focus, if I'm confirmed, is to help bring back that manufacturing renaissance,

05:30but also to make sure that SBA's core programs function as best as possible to serve those

05:36small businesses that might come about from a manufacturing renaissance under the Trump

05:41administration.

05:42Yeah, my statement was just a little different. It said that those – the test bedding of

05:48next generation technology – the Chips and Science Act is about speeding up the advancement

05:54of technology to happen faster than it normally would, because these big companies or large

06:00organizations may not have the money to do the kind of research to do the actual test

06:04bedding. But once the test bedding's done, it's like we're off to the races. Okay,

06:08now how do we continue to lead? And I think it's not that manufacturing would derail

06:13the supply chain or the – it's what could SBA do to help build that and be cognizant

06:22of those opportunities. And so I do think that when you think about the AI situation

06:28– oh my gosh, my time's almost over, Madam Chair. But you think about what happened with

06:35CHAT-GBT. Here we go. We basically demonstrated a major milestone that happened in AI, and

06:43then immediately China goes and tries to knock off one aspect of that on how to do it in

06:48a cheaper fashion. So I think hand-in-hand with being the leaders in technology and innovation

06:54is then how do we continue to lead on the small business and supply chain side of getting

07:01those products and resources there so that ecosystem can be more aggressively grown.

07:07I do think that our great prowess as a nation is to outpace other countries on the R&D and

07:14implementation. So anyway, thank you so much. I will have some more questions for the record,

07:18but thank you so much.

Cantwell Grills SBA Nom: Do You Think Trump's 'Tariff First Approach Is Helpful To Small Business?'

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