Sen. Brown to USTR: Don’t authorize blanket tariff-payment deferral

A “blanket” deferral of tariff payments would inhibit textile manufacturers’ ability to produce personal protective equipment in the U.S., Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) argued on Wednesday in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. The Trump administration reportedly is eyeing a 90-day deferral of payments on most-favored nation tariffs, although the president denied he had approved any such plan on Tuesday. Brown, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, praised USTR’s decision to lower tariffs on medical supplies as...