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Jamieson Greer: “Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution entrusts tariff…”

Featuring: Jamieson Greer, U.S. Trade Representative | National

From Hamilton to Today: Trade and U.S. Economic Strategy with Ambassador Jamieson Greer

Published January 20, 2026 | Video Starts at 49:57

So prepare them. But do you think that Congress has a role in tariff policy? Yeah. If you go to Congress today, the members of Congress will start off by saying Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution entrusts tariff policy to the Congress of the United States. And that's true, and that's written down. And Congress frankly, in its wisdom has delegated a lot of that authority to the President, whether it's to investigate unfair trade practices or do anti dumping and countervailing duties. (49:57–50:08)

CLAIM

Asserts that the U.S. Constitution assigns tariff policy authority to Congress.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Jamieson Greer

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“American per capita industrial output increased 525% from 1750 to 1860.”
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“By 1913, US per capita industrial output was the greatest in the world, 10% greater than that of the UK.”
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“American industrial production soared by over 1000% between 1860 and 1910.”
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“Lyndon Johnson imposed 25% tariffs on pickup trucks that we still have to this day.”
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“President Nixon put a 10% global tariff on the world in 1971.”
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“We reduced that trade deficit with China by about 25% last year.”
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“Over the past year, there have been 650,000 jobs created. And they're all in the private sector and they're all to Americans.”
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“We're now down to 2.7 [percent inflation].”
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“Real wages went down by $3,000 over [the Biden] administration. We're already up $1,300.”
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“We're pumping more oil than we ever have and the price of gas is down lower than it's been since 2019.”
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“Canada put a big tariff on Chinese electric vehicles of 100%.”
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“Canada's GDP is 75% dependent on the United States.”
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“President Trump has revived [the American pragmatic trade] approach with great effect.”
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“This approach...has resulted in increased GDP. It's reversed the trend in our trade deficit. It's boosted our wages, particularly for blue…”
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“Congress...has delegated a lot of that authority to the President.”
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“Paterson [New Jersey] then became one of the poorest cities in the United States.”
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“President Abraham Lincoln was a strong proponent of tariffs.”
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“Smoot Hawley ended up raising the average tariff rate from 40 to 46%.”
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“We protected our industry from foreign competition where that was necessary to unlock growth or to counteract Unfair production conditions…”
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“We bound our hands with NAFTA and the World Trade Organization in ways that made it impossible for the United States to effectively respond…”
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“The American system had become in some ways a global economic system, shaping the structures of economies far beyond our borders.”
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“The negotiators at Bretton woods and other economic conferences wrote new rules based on this and baked tariffs and trade measures into the…”
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“John Maynard Keynes, the British economist and the British representative to the Bretton woods conference, he had an idea for how this could…”
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“The GATT text is still the text underpinning the World Trade Organization agreements.”
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“Article 18 [of the GATT] explicitly states that it may be necessary...to take protective or other measures affecting imports.”
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