Republicans could be poised to deal a symbolic blow to President Donald Trump’s trade policy, with several GOP senators indicating they planned to join Democrats in a Tuesday vote to block blanket tariffs on Canada.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Monday that she plans to back the resolution led by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) that would terminate the national emergency Trump declared last month, citing fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration. Trump has used that declaration to justify 25 percent across-the-board tariffs on America’s northern neighbor and leading trade partner — duties that Trump has threatened to start levying later this week.
“Imposing tariffs on Canada, which is our closest neighbor, [a] friendly ally, is a huge mistake and will cause disruption in the economies of both countries,” Collins told reporters while wearing a Canadian flag pin alongside a U.S. flag pin on her lapel. She warned of potential fallout, including job losses for her state’s key industries, including lobstering and wood pulp, as well as potato and blueberry production.
Collins is poised to join GOP Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who is a co-sponsor of Kaine’s resolution and a strong opponent of tariffs, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who has also expressed concerns about Trump’s tariff plans for North American neighbors. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa — one of many farm-state Republicans who has raised particular concerns about the Canadian tariffs — also said he was undecided on the Kaine resolution.
Collins said her support was conditioned on a final review of the text but added, “I agree with the intent.”
If all 47 members of the Democratic caucus back Kaine’s resolution, which is coauthored by Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Mark Warner of Virginia, at least four Republicans would have to join on for Senate approval. However, it’s likely the resolution never comes up in the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson moved earlier this month to block the ability of tariff critics to force a floor vote on ending the kind of national emergencies Trump is citing to levy the tariffs.
Still, losing the vote on Tuesday would represent the most significant rebuke to Trump that congressional Republicans have yet mustered in his second term. GOP lawmakers have otherwise been compliant with his brash agenda of making slash-and-burn spending cuts and upending America’s foreign relationships.
Asked about the prospects for Kaine’s resolution, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said, “We’ll see.”
“There’s concerns about tariffs on Canada and, you know, what the ultimate objective is, and if it’s about fentanyl and stopping the drug trade … we want to give the president as much latitude as possible to deal with specific problems like that,” he added. “But, as you know, I’m in a very different place when it comes to across-the-board tariffs and Canada.”
The targeting of America’s neighbor and closest historic ally has been a bridge too far for many in the GOP, and Tuesday’s vote comes amid both lawmaker heartburn and market turmoil over Trump’s sweeping trade moves. Trump’s top legislative aide, James Braid, was on Capitol Hill Tuesday trying to settle worried Republicans ahead of Trump’s planned rollout of sweeping new tariffs Wednesday, according to Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.).
“We need to fight battles with our foes first and then try to figure out any inequities with our friends second,” Tillis said. “You want to go after China, there’s not enough tariffs that could ever anger me. Canada and Mexico, that’s a little different.”
Daniel Desrochers and Mia McCarthy contributed to this report.
