Former Vice President Mike Pence said the Trump administration’s aggressive use of tariffs poses a potential risk for Republicans in the midterm elections, even as he expressed relief about a walk-back of some of the most severe tariffs on allies.

Pence, in an exclusive interview with The Hill, raised concerns about the implementation of a baseline 10 percent tariff on several nations, as well as sector-specific tariffs on cars and metals. The former vice president described the second Trump administration as “off to a good start” but voiced reservations about what he called a “misstep” with the broad use of tariffs.

“I really believe that when people voted to send President Trump back to the White House, what I heard traveling across the country in the last four years was people wanted to see us get back to the policies of the Trump-Pence administration,” Pence told The Hill.

“My sense is that, in addition to values — respect for the right to life, respect for traditional family values — I think that’s what people voted for,” he continued. “I don’t think — in my heart of hearts, I don't think the American people were voting for what would amount to the largest peacetime tax hike in American history, which, the tariffs that were announced last week, if left in place, would certainly be, and the hardship they’d place on working families and businesses large and small.”

Pence spoke to The Hill in his Washington, D.C., office just minutes after Trump announced he was increasing tariffs on China to 125 percent while placing a 10 percent tariff on other nations to allow time to negotiate deals.

The former vice president had warned against the potential economic impacts of the tariffs. His advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom, launched an ad campaign Monday pushing back on the tariffs as........

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