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theglobeandmail. com
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April 2, 2025
U. S. Senate votes to block Trumps Canadian tariffs in rebuke to his trade 
agenda

Sen. Mitch McConnell arrives prior to the Senate Republicans weekly policy 
luncheon, in the U. S. Capitol on March 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. Al 
Drago/Getty Images

A bipartisan coalition of U. S. senators voted in favour of ending the 
state of emergency that allows the Trump administration to unilaterally 
impose tariffs on Canadian goods, arguing that the White House overreached 
by targeting its northern neighbour.

The vote is the most significant Republican rebuke of the Trump 
administrations second term, with four Republicans  Kentucky senators Mitch 
McConnell and Rand Paul, as well as Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, and Susan 
Collins, of Maine  breaking rank. The vote passed 51 to 48. The win is 
largely symbolic because its unlikely to have any practical effect in 
Congress. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives has pledged 
not to intervene in Mr. Trumps tariff agenda, and the president has veto 
power that can only be overridden by a two-thirds majority vote in each 
chamber. The fate of the resolution was unclear until votes were tallied 
late Wednesday evening.

Still, Democrats took the success as a victory that sends a clear message 
to the White House.

The resolution, which was introduced by Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, was a 
key test of the willingness of members of the Republican party to stand 
against Mr. Trumps invocation of emergency powers to impose tariffs, which 
are a central pillar of the presidents America First trade policy. Just 
hours before the vote, on what the White House declared Liberation Day, Mr. 
Trump signed a sweeping executive order stating that existing tariffs 
related to the U. S. -declared fentanyl emergency would remain in place for 
Canada and Mexico, with no levies on goods compliant with the U. S. -
Mexico-Canada agreement. Non-compliant products will continue to be taxed 
at 25 per cent, with a lower 10-per-cent rate on energy and potash. If the 
fentanyl emergency is cancelled at some point, the tariff on non-compliant 
goods will fall to 12 per cent.

Early Wednesday morning, Mr. Trump warned Republican senators against 
voting with the Democrats. In a social media post, he singled out the four 
Republicans who had indicated they would support the resolution or were 
considering it. He wrote that he hoped they would get on the Republican 
bandwagon, for a change, and fight the Democrats wild and flagrant push to 
not penalize Canada for the sale, into our Country, of large amounts of 
Fentanyl, by Tariffing the value of this horrible and deadly drug in order 
to make it more costly to distribute and buy.

The White House has repeatedly cited U. S. Customs and Border Protection 
data to assert that 43 pounds of fentanyl was seized at the northern border 
last fiscal year, accusing Canada of being responsible for a massive 2050% 
increase compared with the year prior. In his Feb. 1 executive order, Mr. 
Trump said the flow of illicit drugs from Canada constituted an unusual and 
extraordinary threat requiring expanded executive authority to impose 
tariffs. The emergency declaration unlocked his ability to introduce import 
taxes without congressional approval.

A two-month Globe and Mail investigation into the border agencys fentanyl 
data has determined that much less than 43 pounds of the opioid was 
positively attributed to Canada in fiscal 2024. New data released to The 
Globe under freedom-of-information laws, published Wednesday, show the 
border agency determined that 0.74 pounds of fentanyl originated in Canada. 
That is 0.13 per cent of the fentanyl seizures at the northern border, the 
data say. The investigation uncovered that the agencys methodology for 
attributing seizures to the northern border doesnt hinge on whether the 
fentanyl was intercepted at the border or whether it came from Canada. It 
could have been seized hundreds of kilometres inland, and it may have no 
ties to Canada whatsoever.

Mr. Kaine, of Virginia, said the Trump administration invented the 
emergency to serve its trade agenda. Is fentanyl a problem? Yes. Is it an 
emergency? Yes, he said on the Senate floor in his remarks ahead of the 
vote. But fentanyl is not a Canadian emergency. He pointed to The Globes 
investigation as evidence that the northern border figure cited by the 
White House is inflated and doesnt represent the true volume of fentanyl 
flowing from Canada.

Over the course of the day Wednesday, senators took to the floor to argue 
their case on either side. Those in favour of the resolution accused the 
Trump administration of executive overreach into the area of foreign 
commerce, on the basis of an invented Canadian fentanyl emergency at the 
northern border. Many spoke to the economic toll of the tariffs on their 
constituents, and the deterioration of a historically cherished 
relationship with a country long seen as a friend and ally.

Republican Senator Rand Paul, a staunch supporter of free markets who co-
sponsored the bill alongside Democrats and an Independent senator, said 
tariffs in general are a terrible mistake and that the declaration at the 
northern border is not a real emergency. Even before Mr. Trump took office, 
Mr. Paul has been outspoken about the need to rein in emergency powers. He 
reiterated those concerns on the Senate floor Wednesday, saying a sitting 
presidents political party has no bearing on his view that executive powers 
should not be abused in the name of a self-declared emergency.

As expected, Republican Senator Susan Collins broke rank with her party and 
voted in favour of the resolution, saying that although she is committed to 
stemming the tide of fentanyl flowing into the United States, the fact is 
the vast majority of fentanyl in America comes from the southern border. 
She said that while she believes there is a strong case for tariffs on 
goods from Mexico and China, due to the role of those countries in the U. 
S. toxic drug crisis, she doesnt see the justification for targeting 
Canada.

Unlike Mexico and China, Canada is not complicit in this crisis, and we 
should continue working with our Canadian allies to secure the northern 
border, not unfairly penalize them, Ms. Collins said. Our consumers, our 
manufacturers, our lobstermen, our blueberry growers, our potato farmers 
will pay the price.

Those who voted against the resolution doubled-down on the White Houses 
assertion that fentanyl is pouring across the northern border into the 
United States  despite the fact that the U. S. intelligence communitys 
annual threat assessment released last week doesnt even mention Canada, and 
despite the fact that the U. S. border agencys own drug-seizure data 
indicates Canada is not the problem the White House says it is.

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