WASHINGTON — A pivotal group of Senate Republicans is set to deliver a symbolic rebuke to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian products as he escalated his broader trade war on Wednesday.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, earlier Wednesday became the latest Republican to support a Democratic resolution to block Trump’s Canadian tariffs. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has also backed the measure, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is expected to as well. And the lead author of the resolution, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told him he would vote for it as well.
Support from those four Republicans would give the proposal enough votes to pass in the Senate if all 47 Democrats also vote in favor.
“I will support this resolution, and I urge my colleagues to do so likewise,” Collins said in a speech on the Senate floor. “If these tariffs go into effect, it will be so harmful. And as price hikes always do, they will hurt those the most who can afford them the least.”
Collins ticked through industries in Maine which would be particularly affected by a trade war, such as lobstermen, blueberry growers, and potato farmers.
In Kentucky, home to a booming $9 billion bourbon industry, distillers are grappling with boycotts and retaliatory tariffs from Canada.
“Tariffs on Canada will threaten us with a recession. I mean, it’s a terrible, terrible idea,” Paul told reporters Wednesday.
The resolution won’t go anywhere in the GOP-controlled House, but passage in the Senate would represent an embarrassing rebuke of Trump’s trade policies from members of his own party.
Republicans control the Senate, too, but Democrats — led by Kaine, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota — are able to use a legislative procedure to force a vote to end the national emergency that Trump is using to carry out his tariffs. A simple majority is needed to pass the resolution.
“Many of my Republican colleagues in Congress have already expressed concerns about these tariffs, so the Senate’s upcoming vote on our legislation provides senators with the perfect opportunity to show Americans that they will stand up for their constituents and reverse the President’s disastrous economic policies,” said Kaine.
He added that McConnell personally informed him Tuesday that he would support the measure to terminate Trump’s tariffs.
“I said, ‘I want to talk to you about my Canadian tariffs bill.’ And, you know, I didn’t even get to the question, and he said, ‘I’m with you,'” Kaine recalled.
In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump singled out the four Senate Republicans by name and urged them to reject the Canada resolution. The president has argued these specific tariffs are needed because Canada is not doing enough to halt fentanyl and other illegal drugs from coming across the northern border.
“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,” Trump wrote.
“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 it and I, as your President, will never sign it,” he continued.
At a White House event on Wednesday, Trump formally announced reciprocal tariffs on some of America’s largest trading partners, including key allies like Canada, Mexico and the European Union. They include a 25% tariff on all foreign-made automobiles, beginning at midnight.
“This is one of the most important days, in my opinion, in American history. It’s our declaration of economic independence,” Trump said in a Rose Garden address. “For years, hard-working American citizens were forced to sit on the sidelines as other nations got rich and powerful, much of it at our expense. But now it’s our turn to prosper. Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country. … This will be, indeed, the golden age of America.”
In a letter to House and Senate Republicans this week, conservative group Club For Growth’s president David McIntosh warned about “the ongoing anticipation of a volatile economic impact caused by tariffs — including the looming “Liberation Day” — April 2nd, 2025, where Trump’s tariffs will potentially hit every country.”
“What do these Executive Actions on tariffs mean for Congress? Republicans are likely to lose their majorities in the midterm elections unless immediate pro-growth action is taken,” McIntosh wrote. “That’s why it is so important now for Republicans on Capitol Hill to extend and expand Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and cut federal spending to tame core inflation.”
