Senators Demand Answers on How Trump Agencies Handed Out Exemptions to Trump’s Tariffs in Response to Information Blackout from Commerce and USTR
Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., questioned the Trump administration’s reliance on a secret, closed-door process for exempting thousands of products from tariffs, which has favored politically connected companies and industries, while small businesses and family farms struggle to stay afloat.
Despite Donald Trump’s initial promise to make no exemptions to his unprecedented global tariff spree, his administration has granted thousands of exclusions, without any formal application process or ability for the public or stakeholders to weigh in on these decisions. At the same time, his sweeping global tariffs are raising prices for consumers, jacking up the cost of making things in America and leaving U.S. exports less competitive in foreign markets.
“Tariff exclusions can mean the difference between life or death for American companies, particularly for small businesses and family farms that lack the resources of their larger counterparts and are seeing their already thin margins squeezed by increased tariff and compliance costs,” Wyden and Van Hollen wrote in their letter to United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer and Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
“The Administration’s failure to open a formal, public process to request these exclusions has prevented Main Street from ever making their case to access relief. Small businesses have been left in the dark as to how, when, and under what circumstances relief from these tariffs may be possible. Americans deserve a transparent and legitimate tariff exclusion process that does not prioritize the needs of well-connected insiders over American families,” they concluded.
Americans are in the dark about why certain products face tariffs while others don’t. The secrecy around the process and ever-changing exclusions list have raised concerns about corruption and have made it hard to discern any strategy behind the decisions to exclude products.
Both Wyden and Van Hollen have been relentless opponents of Trump’s reckless tariffs. In October 2025, Wyden’s bipartisan legislation to repeal Trump’s global tariffs and restore congressional authority over trade passed the Senate. Earlier last week, Wyden demanded answers about Trump’s Swiss tariffs that were arbitrarily raised and then lowered after Trump accepted a rare Rolex and gold bar from Swiss companies. In December 2025, Van Hollen held USTR Ambassador Greer’s feet to the fire on Trump’s trade policies at an oversight hearing, noting the impacts of tariffs on Maryland companies that lack the political connections to get special treatment.
The letter text is here.
A web version of this release is here.
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