Responding to an urgent need for revenue following the American Revolutionary War, after passage of the U.S. Constitution the First United States Congress passed, and President George Washington, signed the Tariff Act of July 4, 1789, which authorized the collection of duties on imported goods. Four weeks later, on July 31, the fifth act of Congress established the United States Customs Service and its ports of entry where customs duties (also called tariffs or Ad Valorem taxes) were to be paid. Tariffs were originally recommended in the U.S. by the first Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, in 1789 to tax foreign imports to provide the Federal Government with money to pay its operating expenses and Federal debts and the debts the states had accumulated during the American Revolutionary War.
OK, let’s walk this down one step at a time.
We both agree that Congress has the power to lay and collect taxes (tariffs) on imports. I don’t dispute that, and I don’t dispute the US was funded predominantly by such taxes until the passage of the 16th Amendment.
Now, here we are today. Do we need to raise taxes on imported goods?
The ignoramuses of today don’t even know that tariffs were the main source of funding for decades and decades for the Federal Gov’t. Along with tobacco and alcohol taxes. The ATF (BATF) was set up to enforce the collection of those two taxes.
And as your post states, the US Customs Service was originally set up to collect tariffs not to hassle people getting off of international flights