In a rare statement, former Vice President Mike Pence praised the Feb. 20 ruling against Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs as “a Victory for the American People and a Win for the Separation of Powers enshrined in the Constitution of the United States.”
“Our Supreme Court has reaffirmed that the Constitution grants Congress – not the President – the power to tax,” Pence wrote in a post on X.
“American families and American businesses pay American tariffs – not foreign countries. With this decision, American families and businesses can breathe a sigh of relief,” Pence continues. “With this historic decision, America can now return to the pursuit of Free Trade with Free Nations under the Constitution of the United States!”
Republican Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Don Bacon have both faced the president’s ire for criticizing his tariffs and backing legislation aimed at blocking them. Bacon was one of only a handful of House Republicans to rebuke President Donald Trump’s tariffs in a vote on the House floor last week.
“I feel vindicated as I’ve been saying this for the last 12 months,” Bacon said in a statement. “In the future, Congress should defend its authorities and not just rely on Supreme Court. Besides the Constitutional concerns I had on the Administration’s broad-based tariffs, I also do not think tariffs are smart economic policy. Broad-based tariffs are bad economics.”
At a White House news conference after the Supreme Court decision became known on Feb. 20, a defiant Trump vowed to keep tariffs in effect despite the Supreme Court ruling using methods other than what was ruled illegal by the court. Trump announced alternative options, including an immediate 10% global tariff.
“Now I’m going to go in a different direction, probably the direction I should have gone the first time,” Trump said, calling it “even stronger than our original choice.”
The court only struck down one method for imposing tariffs – the use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
There are other provisions of the Trade Act of 1974, the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and the Tariff Act of 1930 that he could try. He already used some of these in his first term.
Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, for example, allows tariffs of up to 15% for up to 150 days under certain circumstances.
Another possibility is Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, commonly known as “Smoot-Hawley.” It allows tariffs of up to 50% for five months on a country that “discriminates” against U.S. commerce. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has cited this as a possible backup.
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