WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed a bill Wednesday to override. US tariffs on Canadajust like the president donald trump The United States is engaged in trade negotiations in Asia, and trade tensions with its northern neighbor, one of its largest economic partners, are also escalating.
The 50-46 vote was the latest in a series of votes this week to lift the national state of emergency that President Trump has regularly used. impose tariffs. Although the resolution does not ultimately take effect, it has proven an effective way for Democrats to expose the rift between the president’s trade policies and Republican senators who have traditionally supported free trade.
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who is pushing the resolution, said higher prices from tariffs would force Republicans to break with President Trump. “It’s going to become unbearable for them to just turn a blind eye and say, ‘We’ll participate in whatever the president wants to do,'” Kaine told reporters.
The Senate passed a similar bill. Resolutions applicable to Brazilian tariffs A resolution has already been passed on Tuesday. Imports from Canada in April. The same four Republicans (Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky) voted again with all Democrats to approve the resolution as it applies to Canada.
Mr. Kaine joined other Democrats and Mr. Paul in pushing for a vote based on a decades-old law that allows Congress to block the president’s emergency powers. But House Republicans have passed new rules that would allow leaders to block such resolutions from being voted on in the chamber, making it possible for President Trump to veto them even if they pass Congress.
Wednesday’s voting took place as follows: trump was in asia This is to advance trade negotiations with partners there. The president is also at loggerheads with Canadian officials amid delicate negotiations to lower tariffs between the two countries.
Sen. Mike Crapo, the Republican chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, acknowledged in a floor speech that many people “may be anxious about what happens next” as President Trump reshapes global trade. But he urged Congress to stay out of the way.
“Let’s have a truly balanced and fair playing field in trade,” Crapo added.
But tensions between Republican senators and the president are rising over how soybean farmers are suffering in the trade war with China and the administration’s plan to allow increased purchases of beef from Argentina.
Vice President J.D. Vance addressed Republican lawmakers at a private luncheon this week, arguing that the president should stay away from trade policy while negotiating a deal. But Mr. Vance’s efforts appeared to have little impact on those who decided to vote against the tariffs.
“Retaliatory tariffs on American products have dramatically reduced farm income for many of Kentucky’s approximately 70,000 family farms,” Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, a former longtime Republican Senate leader, said in a statement. “Bourbon has been under fire from day one, and the true cost of trade barriers is inevitably passed on to consumers, who now pay higher prices across the board.”
President Trump said earlier this week that he wanted to impose an additional 10% tariff on Canadian imports because: Anti-tariff TV ad Broadcast by Ontario. The TV ad criticized U.S. tariffs, quoting former President Ronald Reagan.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney trying to engage with trump This is to ease import taxes that are hitting Canada hard. The U.S.-Canada economic relationship is one of the largest in the world, expected to total $909.1 billion by 2024, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. More than three-quarters of Canada’s exports go to the United States, with goods and services worth C$3.6 billion ($2.7 billion U.S.) crossing the border every day.
Canada is also turning to its Asian trading partners amid the trade war.
Democrats argued that the trade war is affecting a wide range of industries, from farmers to shipyards. They also said it makes little sense to wage a trade war with a close military ally.
President Trump declared a national emergency and imposed tariffs on fentanyl and other illegal drugs entering the country from Canada. So far this year, China has seized less than 1% of its total fentanyl. U.S. Customs and Border Protection66 pounds, was seized at the northern border.
In his floor speech, Kaine argued that President Trump’s trade policies are actually driven by personal feelings. He claimed that President Trump is “so thin-skinned that a television ad quoting President Ronald Reagan prompted an end to negotiations.”
He asked, “How about that as a basis for trade policy?”
