A group of Republican senators voted along with Democrats on Wednesday for a resolution to undo President Trump's 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports, dealing an embarrassing blow to Trump.
The resolution expresses the sense of the Senate and doesn’t have the force of law, but its 51-48 passage is unwelcome news for the president on the very day he announced a host of new tariffs.
Four Republicans — Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Mitch McConnell (Ky.) — voted for the measure.
They voted to express their disapproval of Trump’s tariffs on Canada a few hours after the president announced he would impose a 10 percent tariff on all imports and levy even higher rates on imports from the European Union, China, Vietnam and Japan.
Collins told reporters after the vote that she had serious concerns about Trump’s decision to slap high tariffs on U.S. allies such as Canada.
“In general, one of my biggest concerns is we should be distinguishing between allies and our adversaries and not treating them the same way,” she said.
McConnell made a similar argument after casting his vote.
“With so much at stake globally, the last thing we need is to pick fights with the very friends with whom we should be working with to protect against China’s predatory and unfair trade practices,” he said in a statement.
Murkowski said she did “what I needed to do for Alaska.”
She said her constituents are worried about what Trump’s tariffs “are going to mean for price increases.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) had urged Republican colleagues to vote against the resolution, advising them it was a political gambit by Democrats to embarrass Trump.
Thune argued on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon that the tariff against Canada is necessary leverage to push Canadian authorities to crack down on drug smuggling across the northern border.
“I urge my colleagues to oppose this resolution and ensure that President Trump has the tools that he needs to combat the flow of fentanyl from all directions,” he said.
He argued the fentanyl crisis warrants “an aggressive response.”
Democrats framed the resolution as a plea for Trump to stop escalating his trade war with Canada, one of the nation’s biggest trading partners.
They said Trump’s Canadian tariffs would impact an estimated 6.5 million jobs across the country.
Trump, for his part, took a shot at Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) for sponsoring the resolution.
“Sen. Tim Kaine, who ran against me with Crooked Hillary in 2016, is trying to halt our critical Tariffs on deadly Fentanyl coming in from Canada. We are making progress to end this terrible Fentanyl Crisis, but Republicans in the Senate MUST vote to keep the National Emergency in place, so we can finish the job, and end the scourge,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
He also targeted the four Republicans in the hours before the vote.
“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, and fight the Democrats wild and flagrant push to not penalize Canada for the sale, into our Country, of large amounts of Fentanyl, by Tariffing the value of this horrible and deadly drug in order to make it more costly to distribute and buy,” Trump posted.
Collins and Murkowski said Trump did not try to reach out them directly ahead of the vote.
Trump has imposed 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, as well as 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum ...
