Former Vice President Mike Pence says President Donald Trump's escalating tariff war risks "dismissing your front line in a football game" by alienating U.S. allies just as Washington tries to force economic concessions from Beijing.
What Happened: In a Bloomberg Television interview, Pence said Trump "is driving toward a long-term change in industrial policy" built on "permanent unilateral tariff barriers" that he, as a free-market conservative,” cannot support.
Pence then invoked former Senate Banking Chair Phil Gramm's analogy, "By going after all of your the free nations that you’re trading with at the same time that you’re trying to bring China farther along into opening markets…, he said, it’s like it’s like dismissing your front line in a football game and expecting that you’re going to take on the other side."
Pence argued the U.S. needs Japan, South Korea, Australia and the European Union "to continue to bring the kind of economic pressure on China that I believe is all President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party will respect."
He pointed to 2020's "phase-one" accord, saying Beijing negotiated only after Washington hit $250 billion in imports with duties.
Still, Pence endorses targeted pressure. "Free trade with free nations should be the backstop," he said, insisting coordinated allied action proved effective before and can again. The Trump campaign defends the duties as leverage to repatriate manufacturing and shrink trade gaps, but Pence remains unconvinced.
Why It Matters: The former vice president's critique comes as Trump readies a new round of tariffs that could reach 70% on certain imports, a shift Pence warns would ultimately harm the American economy and consumers.
Pence's break with his onetime running mate has grown sharper. In May, he told CNN the tariff agenda "may cost U.S. families $3,200 a year." The Daily Beast later quoted him as saying Americans, not foreign suppliers, "will pay" for "tariff chaos."
Pence also urged Congress to reclaim its constitutional power to levy tariffs, arguing that President Trump cannot legally impose blanket import duties without legislative approval.
Photo Courtesy: The Old Major on Shutterstock.com
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