Washington — The Senate approved a measure Wednesday aimed at blocking the Canada tariffs, as a handful of Republicans bucked President Trump.
In a 51 to 48 vote, four Republicans joined all Democrats in favor of the measure. But the House is unlikely to take up the resolution, making the vote largely a symbolic one.
Joining Democrats in support of the measure were Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and former GOP leader Mitch McConnell, along with Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Republican who co-sponsored the legislation.
The resolution, led by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, would terminate the national emergency that the president is using to impose the tariffs, effectively blocking the sweeping levies on foreign imports. Kaine forced the vote under the National Emergencies Act, bypassing Senate Republican leadership.
The president first threatened the tariffs on Canada and Mexico in January, touting a need to enhance border security and stop the flow of fentanyl over the nation’s borders, before they were twice delayed. In a major White House announcement Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he was imposing what he termed “reciprocal tariffs” on about 60 nations, but exempted Canada and Mexico.
Canada and Mexico are, however, facing tariffs under separate policies targeting aluminum and steel, which took effect in February, as well as vehicle imports, which are set to take effect Thursday. Speaking on Fox News Wednesday evening, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that goods from Mexico and Canada that are currently covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement would remain exempt from tariffs for now.
Kaine, who called the tariffs “attacks on everyday people,” said ahead of the vote that the president has justified the imposition of these tariffs on “a made up emergency.” He argued that while fentanyl is a “real emergency,” it’s not from Canada, while warning that the Canadian tariffs will tax groceries and food products, building supplies, fertilizers, along with materials that produce ships and submarines and implicate U.S. national security.
With 47 Democrats and independents in the chamber, the resolution required the support of at least four Republicans for approval. Mr. Trump put pressure on the GOP leading up to the vote, urging that “Republicans in the Senate MUST vote to keep the National Emergency in place, so we can finish the job, and end the scourge.”
“Don’t let the Democrats have a Victory,” the president said in a post on Truth Social Tuesday. “It would be devastating for the Republican Party and, far more importantly, for the United States.”
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Ahead of the vote, the president called out the Republican senators who supported the measure, saying in a post in the wee hours Wednesday that “Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Rand Paul, also of Kentucky, will hopefully get on the Republican bandwagon, for a change.”
“The Senate Bill is just a ploy of the Dems to show and expose the weakness of certain Republicans, namely these four, in that it is not going anywhere because the House will never approve,” Mr. Trump continued, asking the senators’ constituents to reach out to them.
“They have been extremely difficult to deal with and, unbelievably disloyal to hardworking Majority Leader John Thune, and the Republican Party itself,” the president added.
Thune criticized the measure ahead of the vote, warning that it could threaten efforts to stop fentanyl from entering the country.
“We would be wrong to view this as solely a southern border problem,” Thune said, arguing that cartels will expand fentanyl smuggling operations at the northern border if it’s not addressed.
The majority leader pledged that Republicans intend to keep a promise to “end the lawlessness at our borders.”
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged Republicans to join Democrats in supporting the resolution, calling the tariffs a “tax increase on American families, plain and simple.”
“Every single Senate Republican should support Tim’s resolution, and support American families,” Schumer said.
The New York Democrat cited Mr. Trump’s urging of the GOP to oppose the measure, claiming that the president is “very worried” about the resolution.
“He knows they might lose here in the Senate,” Schumer added.
