A Senate vote to reverse Trump's tariffs on Canada is testing Republican
support
[April 01, 2025]
By STEPHEN GROVES
WASHINGTON (AP) — With President Donald Trump's so-called “Liberation
Day” of tariff implementation fast approaching, Senate Democrats are
putting Republican support for some of those plans to the test by
forcing a vote to nullify the emergency declaration that underpins the
tariffs on Canada.
Republicans have watched with some unease as the president's attempts to
remake global trade have sent the stock market downward, but they have
so far stood by Trump's on-again-off-again threats to levy taxes on
imported goods.
Even as the resolution from Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia
offered them a potential off-ramp to the tariffs levied on Canadian
imports, Republican leaders were trying to keep senators in line by
focusing on fentanyl that comes into the U.S. over its northern border.
It was yet another example of how Trump is not only reorienting global
economics, but upending his party's longtime support for ideas like free
trade.
“I really relish giving my Republican colleagues the chance to not just
say they're concerned, but actually take an action to stop these
tariffs,” Kaine told The Associated Press in an interview last week.
Kaine's resolution would end the emergency declaration that Trump signed
in February to implement tariffs on Canada as punishment for not doing
enough to halt the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S. If the Senate
passes the resolution, it would still need to be taken up by the
Republican-controlled House.
A small fraction of the fentanyl that comes into the U.S. enters from
Canada. Customs and Border Protection seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at
the northern border during the 2024 fiscal year, and since January,
authorities have seized less than 1.5 pounds, according to federal data.
Meanwhile, at the southern border, authorities seized over 21,000 pounds
last year.
Kaine warned that tariffs on Canadian goods would ripple through the
economy, making it more expensive to build homes and military ships.
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“We’re going to pay more for our food products. We’re going to pay
more for building supplies,” he said. “So people are already
complaining about grocery prices and housing costing too much. So
you raise the cost of building supplies and products. It’s a big
deal.”
Still, Trump has claimed that the amount of fentanyl coming from
Canada is “massive" and pledged to follow through by executing
tariffs Wednesday.
“There will never have been a transformation of a Country like the
transformation that is happening, for all to see, in the United
States of America,” the president said on social media Monday.
Republican leaders in the Senate have signaled they aren't exactly
fans of tariffs, but argued that Trump is using them as a
negotiating tool.
“I am supportive of using tariffs in a way to accomplish a specific
objective, in this case ending drug traffic,” Senate Majority Leader
John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters last month. He said this week
that his “advice remains the same.”
While Trump's close allies in the Senate were standing steadfastly
by the idea of remaking the U.S. economy through tariffs, others
have begun openly voicing their dissatisfaction with trade wars that
could disrupt industries and raise prices on autos, groceries,
housing and other goods.
“I’m keeping a close eye on all these tariffs because oftentimes the
first folks that are hurt in a trade war are your farmers and
ranchers,” said Sen. Steve Daines, a Montana Republican.
Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, said he would prefer to
see the U.S. and its trading partners move to remove all tariffs on
each other, but he conceded that Trump's tariff threats had injected
uncertainty into global markets.
“We’re in uncharted waters,” Kennedy told reporters. “Nobody knows
what the impact of these tariffs is going to be.”
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