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U.S. President Donald Trump is accused of having started a global trade war. That’s wrong. The U.S. Congress is responsible for it, and only the U.S. Congress can stop it. If the core institution of American democracy cannot reassert its clear constitutional authority over U.S. trade policy, then the chaos of the past two months will continue for the next four years. Indeed, trade may be the best opportunity the world has for American democracy to reassert itself against the unfettered power being wielded by the current occupant of the White House.

Amid Trump’s sweeping claims of authority to slap tariffs on any country for whatever reason he chooses, it is easy to lose sight of what the law says: Tariffs are the responsibility of Congress, not the president. As the late trade scholar I. M. Destler put it, “[I]n no sphere of government policy can the primacy of the legislative branch be clearer: Congress reigns supreme on trade, unless and until it decides otherwise.” Unfortunately, giving up its authority over trade is exactly what Congress decided, beginning in the pre-Trump world. Decades of institutional self-flagellation on trade have left the 535-member Congress so weak that it cannot perform its core duties, even when the actions of the president are harming their constituents and will likely hurt their chances for reelection.

U.S. President Donald Trump is accused of having started a global trade war. That’s wrong. The U.S. Congress is responsible for it, and only the U.S. Congress can stop it. If the core institution of American democracy cannot reassert its clear constitutional authority over U.S. trade policy, then the chaos of the past two months will continue for the next four years. Indeed, trade may be the best opportunity the world has for American democracy to reassert itself against the unfettered power being wielded by the current occupant of the White House.

Amid Trump’s sweeping claims of authority to slap tariffs on any country for whatever reason he chooses, it is easy to lose sight of what the law says: Tariffs are the responsibility of Congress, not the president. As the late trade scholar I. M. Destler put it, “[I]n no sphere of government policy can the primacy of the legislative branch be clearer: Congress reigns supreme on trade, unless and until it decides otherwise.” Unfortunately, giving up its authority over trade is exactly what Congress decided, beginning in the pre-Trump world. Decades of institutional self-flagellation on trade have left the 535-member Congress so weak that it cannot perform its core duties, even when the actions of the president are harming their constituents and will likely hurt their chances for reelection.

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But trade also represents the best opportunity for Congress to find its voice. On the other issues where Trump is running roughshod over the U.S. Constitution—such as immigration and the destruction of federal agencies—the partisan divides are too deep. Republicans are cheering the president on both. But on trade, the divisions are less clear; until vanishingly recent times, Republicans were the party of free trade and Democrats the skeptics. Those old impulses remain, but the two parties are no longer cleaved ideologically on trade and may be able to find common ground against the most irresponsible of Trump’s tariffs.

The rollback efforts so far have found some bipartisan support, though far short of what would be needed. With four Republican votes, the Senate in early April passed a measure to revoke the tariffs on Canada. Other bills to claw back Trump’s tariff powers have been introduced with bipartisan sponsors. Trump’s 90-day pause of the worst of the tariffs will likely be just enough to discourage most Republicans from challenging him. But as the pain grows for consumers facing empty shelves, workers experiencing layoffs, and businesses large and small watching profits disappear, pressure on members will grow.

The erosion of Congress’s sovereignty over trade has been decades in the making. Under Article I of the Constitution, Congress has the sole power “to regulate commerce with foreign nations” and to “lay and collect …........

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