Rogers Remarks at Budget Hearing on the Office of the United States Trade Representative

I would like to welcome everyone to this morning’s hearing and the Committee’s first budget hearing of the Fiscal Year 2027 cycle. Thank you to our Subcommittee members and to Ambassador Greer for being here today. USTR’s FY2027 budget request totals 95 million dollars, an increase of 8 percent from the Fiscal Year 2026 enacted level. 

The budget request includes funding for increased personnel investments to enable USTR to protect national security, address unfair trade practices, and open foreign markets for U.S. goods. Your role as the President’s principal trade advisor and negotiator on trade issues is vital to the success of President Trump’s trade agenda. 

The Fiscal Year 2027 budget request for the Office of the United States Trade Representative comes at an important time. The Administration has announced trade deals with many of our key trading partners and is actively working on renegotiating the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement with our neighbors. Just last month, USTR also launched various Section 301 tariff investigations aimed at addressing unfair trade practices relating to forced labor and excess manufacturing capacity by over 60 nations.

USTR has taken on increased focus and responsibility, and Congress has worked to meet your needs by providing targeted funding increases. USTR must ensure that rival nations like the People’s Republic of China are not able to take advantage of Americans by engaging in unfair trade practices. We must also not allow China to export deadly fentanyl precursor chemicals, flooding North America and poisoning our children.

I look forward to hearing how the President’s budget request for USTR furthers our shared goals of responsibly managing taxpayer dollars while expanding market access for domestic producers, protecting national security, and combating unfair trade practices—particularly by geopolitical foes like China.