Mike Pence Group Blasts Trump Tariffs for Lining Lobbyists’ Pockets While Crushing Consumers

The Trump administration’s signature tariffs, long hailed by the president as a tool to “protect American jobs,” have instead funneled cash to Washington lobbyists while hammering consumers and businesses across the country. That is the blunt assessment from Advancing American Freedom, a policy group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, who served during Trump’s first term.

In a new analysis obtained first by Bloomberg Government, Advancing American Freedom details a sharp spike in lobbying spending tied to the tariffs in the first quarter compared to the previous year. The group’s report underscores the growing chorus of critics who argue these tariffs have done little but enrich corporate cronies on K Street while raising prices for ordinary Americans.

“The biggest takeaway is that these tariffs are not helping the American people,” the group said bluntly. While the Trump administration touted tariffs as a way to level the playing field against foreign competitors, courts have dealt repeated legal setbacks to the policy, and the economic fallout has been severe. Retaliatory tariffs from trading partners have hit U.S. exporters hard, while manufacturers and consumers face higher costs for imported goods.

Lobbying firms have seized on the chaos, ramping up efforts to influence trade policy and regulations. This surge in lobbying spending reveals the real beneficiaries of the tariffs: well-connected insiders who profit from the administration’s protectionist chaos.

Pence’s group, which has expanded its reach recently and grown more vocal in opposing Trump’s trade wars, provides a rare public acknowledgment from a prominent Republican-aligned organization that the tariffs are a political and economic disaster. Their critique adds weight to mounting evidence that Trump’s trade policies have been less about defending American workers and more about enriching the political class and corporate interests.

For everyday Americans, the consequences are clear: higher prices at the store, disrupted supply chains, and a reckless trade war that undermines the very economic stability the administration claimed to protect. Meanwhile, the lobbying industry cashes in, turning tariff turmoil into lucrative consulting contracts and influence peddling.

This report from Pence’s group is a stark reminder that the so-called “America First” tariffs have been anything but. Instead, they have boosted K Street’s bottom line at the expense of Main Street’s wallets. As the courts continue to chip away at the administration’s trade agenda, the real damage remains with the American people, who are left to pay the price for this costly political gambit.