The Trump administration’s tariffs and the ensuing debates have diverted attention from the fact that regulating international trade is the role of Congress. After all, tariffs are taxes, and it’s a bedrock principle of U.S. law that taxation requires legislation.

The Framers made this point clear when they granted Congress the power to impose “imposts” and “duties” — meaning tariffs — to regulate external commerce.

Fortunately, Congress is starting to exercise its constitutional powers over foreign commerce again. On March 12, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) — a former U.S. ambassador to Japan — introduced a bill to shield U.S. companies from the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, a regulation dating back to July 2024 that forces U.S. companies to audit their entire supply chains and disclose wide-ranging environmental, social, and governance or ESG metrics that exceed the requirements of U.S. law.

The idea of protecting........

© The Hill