Senate Republicans are breaking ranks to stage a rare rebellion against President Donald Trump’s tariff policies on Canadian goods.
The move appears to signal a fracture in party unity over trade strategy.
A bipartisan coalition in the Senate, including a handful of GOP defectors, pushed forward a resolution to strip Trump of the emergency powers he invoked to slap hefty tariffs on Canada.
The resolution challenges both Trump’s tactics and the economic fallout.
This saga kicked off earlier this year when Trump, invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, imposed a steep 35% tariff on Canadian imports, along with a whopping 50% duty on steel from other nations.
Things escalated recently when Trump, irked by an Ontario government ad featuring audio from Ronald Reagan’s 1987 trade speech, upped the ante with an additional 10% tariff on Canada.
In a fiery Truth Social post, Trump, doubling down on his hardline stance, declared:
“ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.”
Trump’s instinct to play tough on trade resonates with those tired of globalist giveaways.
However, some Republicans fear this move risks alienating allies and hiking costs for everyday Americans.
Enter the Senate, where a resolution led by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) gained traction to halt these emergency tariffs, with key Republicans like Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) crossing party lines.
Sen. Paul, a co-sponsor, has been vocal, arguing that these tariffs are essentially a hidden tax on U.S. consumers and that “a rule by emergency is not what the Constitution intended, that taxes are supposed to originate in the House of Representatives.”
Meanwhile, the White House sent Vice President JD Vance to a Senate lunch to whip GOP votes, warning that breaking ranks on Trump’s tariff plan would be a “huge mistake.”
In response, McConnell didn’t mince words.
McConnell joined the opposition by arguing that these trade barriers inflict real-world pain on his state’s economy.
This isn’t the only Senate action, however.
Kaine’s resolution is part of a trio targeting Trump’s emergency tariff powers, with similar measures advancing against duties on Brazil and Canada.
Nevertheless, these resolutions are likely dead on arrival in the House, leaving this Senate revolt more symbolic than substantive.
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