‘The truth is- had we adhered to the founders intent in the Constitution- the stops and starts of the past week could never have happened.’
Former Vice President Mike Pence believes Congress should reassert its Constitutional authority to set tariff policy amid President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariff campaign.
Pence made the “Case for the Constitution” last week in a closed-door speech at Grove City College’s Conference on Faith and Freedom, according to excerpts of his remarks obtained by National Review.
“The Constitution gives the power to Congress to set policies on tariffs, trade and commerce. Wherever you come down on the risks or merits associated with tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration, the president has no authority in the Constitution to unilaterally impose tariffs without an act of Congress,” Pence said.
“While I welcome President Trump’s decision to pause many of his announced tariffs for 90 days, the truth is- had we adhered to the founders intent in the Constitution- the stops and starts of the past week could never have happened.”
Under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, Congress has the power to control tariff policy, but in recent decades, Congress has largely delegated that authority to the executive branch. Over that time period, U.S. tariffs dropped during Republican and Democratic administrations until Trump upended the American political scene with his 2016 victory.
Trump took full advantage of Congress’s dereliction during his first term in order to impose selective tariffs on China and other nations to promote specific U.S. industries. Former President Joe Biden kept up this policy and enacted additional tariffs on certain Chinese goods and products from elsewhere.
This time around, Trump has taken a bolder approach to tariffs with his “Liberation Day” announcement of sweeping global tariffs on nations worldwide. The tariff plan featured a 10 percent minimum rate and much steeper rates on many countries depending on the size of the U.S. trade deficit with them.
Trade deficits can be a product of the specialization and production and differences in consumer demand, especially because of the dynamism of the U.S. economy. Economists mostly dismiss the relevance of trade deficits as a measure because of their variation across world economies.
Trump announced a 90 day pause on most of the tariffs last week after Wall Street panicked and stock market indexes fell to their lowest levels since the Covid-19 pandemic. He put the pause in place because of the stock market chaos and the outreach from over 75 countries to begin negotiations on trade deals.
“While I welcome President Trumps decision to pause many of his announced tariffs for 90 days, the truth is — had we adhered to the founders intent in the Constitution — the stops and starts of the past week could never have happened,” Pence said.
“To restore the authority to tax or tariff back to the American people, Congress should take immediate steps to reclaim their historic power ‘to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises’ under the Article 1 of the Constitution.”
Trump’s tariff pause did not apply to China or goods not covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement. Tariffs on specific sectors are also exempt from the 90-day freeze. After a series of escalations, tarriffs on China have reached 145 percent. China’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods have reached 125 percent. Although U.S. Customs and Border Protection disclosed a list of exemptions to the China tariffs, Trump denied the existence of any exemptions from the steep levies.
The tariff frenzy prompted Senators Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.) and Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) to put forward bipartisan legislation to reclaim Congress’s role in shaping trade policy. House lawmakers have introduced bipartisan companion legislation to the Cantwell-Grassley bill, but the bill is unlikely to pass the GOP-controlled House and Senate.
Most forecasters and economists expect Trump’s tariffs to noticeably raise consumer prices and slow economic growth, without generating enough revenue to meaningfully pay down American debt. Trump and his advisors argue the tariffs are vital for rebuilding American manufacturing capacity and ending decades of unfair trade practices.