WASHINGTON — Democrats in the U.S. Senate are moving forward on a resolution to block sweeping tariffs targeting Canada as President Donald Trump presses Republican lawmakers to continue backing his trade agenda.
Sen. Tim Kaine plans to force a vote on Trump’s use of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, also called IEEPA, to declare an emergency over fentanyl trafficking to hit Canada with devastating duties.
“The president has justified the imposition of these tariffs on, in my view, a made-up emergency,” Kaine said Tuesday.
U.S. government data shows the volume of fentanyl seized at the northern border is tiny. The Annual Threat Assessment report, released last week, does not mention Canada in its section on illicit drugs and fentanyl.
IEEPA includes a provision allowing any senator to force a vote to block emergency powers. The vote will test whether Republican senators continue to back Trump’s tariffs on Canada _ tariffs that, according to polling, are not supported by most Americans.
It’s not likely the resolution will hit the Senate floor Tuesday because Democrat Sen. Cory Booker has been delivering a marathon speech to oppose actions by the Trump administration.
Even if it gets enough Republican support to pass the Senate, Kaine’s resolution probably won’t stop Trump’s emergency declaration because it’s not likely to come up in the House.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who co-sponsored the resolution, said Trump shouldn’t be permitted to abuse emergency powers to start an unjustified trade war with Canada. The Minnesotan lawmaker said the tariffs have delivered a major hit to the economies of northern states that do significant trade with Canada.
“This is a long-standing friendship and an incredible trade relationship, part of our supply chain,” Klobuchar said.
She said the Canada-U.S.-Mexico-Agreement, negotiated during the first Trump administration, is the place for trade negotiations.
In early March, Trump hit Canada and Mexico with 25 per cent across-the-board duties, with a lower 10 per cent levy on Canadian energy — then partly paused the tariffs a few days later. Trump said at the time that the pause would last until April 2.
In a worrying sign for Canadian officials watching to see whether the devastating duties are set to return on Wednesday, Trump took to social media Tuesday to urge Republicans to vote against Kaine’s resolution.
“Senator Tim Kaine, who ran against me with Crooked Hillary in 2016, is trying to halt our critical Tariffs on deadly Fentanyl coming in from Canada,” Trump said. “We are making progress to end this terrible Fentanyl Crisis, but Republicans in the Senate MUST vote to keep the National Emergency in place, so we can finish the job, and end the scourge.”
A White House official confirmed Monday that no decision had been made on whether Trump will reinstate the tariffs on Canada and Mexico. When asked about the duties Tuesday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “I will let the president speak on the specifics of the tariffs on Wednesday.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Tuesday ahead of the tariff deadline. A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said the two leaders spoke about “safeguarding North American competitiveness while respecting the sovereignty of each nation.”
“Carney also highlighted his plan to fight unjustified trade actions against Canada, protect Canadian workers and businesses, and build Canada’s economy, including through increased trade between Canada and Mexico,” the statement said.
Since Trump returned to office in January, he has rattled global markets with his on-again, off-again trade war with the world.
Trump is set to lay out his plans to realign global trade through “reciprocal” tariffs Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET. A news release from the White House called it a “Make America Wealthy Again Event.”
Trump has called it “Liberation Day” and has said he will impose reciprocal tariffs by increasing U.S. duties to match the tax rates other countries charge on imports. It’s not clear what the latest levies could mean for Canada.
Leavitt said the president is focused on “re-shifting our global economy to ensure that America is once again the manufacturing superpower of the world.” She said her understanding was that the reciprocal levies would be effective immediately.
Thursday will also bring Trump’s 25 per cent levies on automobiles. Last month, Trump also placed 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to the U.S. The White House official said many of those duties will stack on top of each other if economywide tariffs on Canada return.
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