U.S. Senate backs Kaine measure rejecting tariffs on Canada
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday approved a measure from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., to reject President Donald Trump's emergency rationale for tariffs against Canada.
Four Republicans - Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine; Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; and Rand Paul, R-Ky., joined Democrats to pass the bill on a 51-48 vote.
Senate Joint Resolution 37, which now goes to the House of Representatives, would end the national emergency Trump declared in order to justify tariffs on Canada.
The president declared a Canadian emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Kaine said Congress designed the act to counter enemies and adversaries, not allies.
"I stand here strong in the belief that Canada is not an adversary - they're an ally," Kaine said Wednesday on the Senate floor. "Canada is not the 51st state. They're a sovereign nation. And Canada is not an emergency for the United States."
Earlier Wednesday, in a social media post, Trump called the Senate resolution an empty gesture.
"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," Trump wrote.
Trump declared the emergency in February, saying Canada should do more to combat fentanyl. Canada says fentanyl seized at the Canadian border accounted for less than 0.1% of U.S. fentanyl seizures between 2022 and 2024.
Kaine said the U.S. and Canada already can iron out trade differences under provisions of the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement that Trump's team negotiated in his first term.
Trump imposed sweeping tariffs Wednesday on Canada, Mexico and other nations. Kaine said it will be "the largest tax hike in United States history."
Kaine said the tariffs on Canada hurt Virginia in large and small ways. He noted that Virginia is a major manufacturer of nuclear carriers and nuclear submarines. Thirty-five percent of the steel and aluminum comes from Canada.
Kaine also spoke of Mom's Apple Pie Company, a small business in Northern Virginia with two bakeries in Loudoun County and one in Prince William County. The owner told Kaine the business gets all of its pie tins from Canada and she is worried that she will need to raise prices on a discretionary purchase.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said on the Senate floor Wednesday that Virginians export about $3.3 billion of products to Canada and import about $3.2 billion. He said Virginia farmers sell about $430 million of goods to Canada.
Said Warner: "The notion that this president is trying to turn Canada into an enemy is beyond belief."