While Democratic lawmakers have been outspoken in their opposition to the steep new tariffs President Donald Trump is pushing, many of their GOP counterparts are reluctant to openly criticize Trump — even if they are privately worried about the effect tariffs could have.
According to the Associated Press (AP), Senate Democrats may put Senate Republicans in a difficult position by forcing an "uncomfortable vote" to "nullify the emergency declaration that underpins the levies on Canada."
Trump is pushing a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods imported into the U.S., and Canadian officials are responding with a 25 percent tariff on U.S. imports into Canada.
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These tensions between the U.S. and Canada, according to AP, are especially worrisome for GOP senators representing northern border states.
AP, in an article published on April 1, reports, "Even as the resolution from Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia offered them a potential offramp 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. Kaine's resolution — expected to go to a vote as early as Tuesday, (April 1) — challenges Trump's use of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, also called IEEPA, to declare an emergency at the northern border in order to hit Canada with tariffs. The IEEPA includes a provision allowing any senator to force a vote to block emergency powers."
Kaine told Canada's CBC News that voters are "hopping mad" about Trump's tariffs, and he believes that forcing a vote "could have an effect on curbing the president's behavior."
The Virginia Democrat told CBC News, "If we get a good solid bipartisan vote in the Senate, that's going to be a powerful message to Donald Trump and his economic advisers that you are playing with fire — don't raise taxes on Americans on their groceries and building supplies at a time when the economy is softening."
Conservative Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), meanwhile, isn't attacking Trump but acknowledges the uncertainty new tariffs are creating in the stock market.
Kennedy told reporters, "We're in uncharted waters. Nobody knows what the impact of these tariffs is going to be."
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota), meanwhile, recently told reporters, "I am supportive of using tariffs in a way to accomplish a specific objective, in this case ending drug traffic," Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota told reporters last month. He said this week that his "advice remains the same."
Read the full Associated Press article at this link.