News of President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” plan for implementing reciprocal tariffs has put all eyes on both the U.S., and global economy.
Trump’s tariff plan on imports seeks to rectify what he views as a decades-long trade imbalance between the United States and other countries.
At an event in the White House Rose Garden yesterday, Trump signed an executive order after he said that foreign nations will be charged roughly half of what they impose with tariffs, including China and India as well as the European Union.
His move has been met with overall support from other Republican colleagues.
However, shortly after the move, a handful of top Republicans suddnely broke with Trump and crossed party lines with Democrats to stonewall Trump’s tariff efforts.
A move that has jolted GOP unity.
On Wednesday evening, a group of 4 Republicans in the Senate joined forces with Democrats and independents to pass a measure subverting the Trump administration’s 25% tariffs on Canadian goods.
The Senate voted 51-48 in favor of a resolution from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) that, if enacted, would terminate the national emergency declaration employed by Trump to impose tariffs on Canada earlier this year.
Kaine’s resolution faces significant challenges, as it needs approval from the GOP-led House to take effect, which seems like an unlikely prospect.
Trump indicated he would veto the resolution if it reached his desk.
The Senate Republicans who broke ranks to support Kaine’s resolution included Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Rand Paul (R-KY). Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) did not vote.
BREAKING: The Senate voted 51–48 to pass a resolution blocking Trump’s Canadian tariffs from taking effect. Four Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, and Lisa Murkowski — joined all 47 Democrats in supporting the measure. pic.twitter.com/k57DLr86yl
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) April 2, 2025
“The Maine economy is integrated with Canada, our most important trading partner,” Collins said on the Senate floor, adding later, “The tariffs on Canada would be detrimental to many Maine families and our local economies.”
Collins acknowledged sharing Trump’s goal of “stemming the tide of dangerous fentanyl that flows into the United States,” but insisted that, “unlike Mexico and China” — two other countries targeted for tariffs — “Canada is not complicit in this crisis.”
In an post on Truth Social before the vote, Trump called out the GOP lawmakers by name, urging them to reject a “ploy of the Dems to show and expose the weakness of certain Republicans” and encouraging people in their states to contact their senators.
Trump contended that Canada was facilitating the flow of fentanyl into the United States and emphasized that Kaine’s resolution is “not going anywhere because the House will never approve it and I, as your President, will never sign it.”
Earlier this year, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on some imports from Canada, arguing that the U.S. neighbor was not doing enough to curb the trafficking of drugs such as fentanyl.
Canada responded by announcing 25% retaliatory tariffs.
When Kaine filed the resolution on Canada tariffs with Sens. Amy Klobucher (D-MN) and Mark Warner (D-VA), he said the measure was privileged, meaning the Republican-controlled Senate was required to vote on it in the coming weeks.
They argued that tariffs against Canada have disrupted the United States economy in a way that raises costs for American consumers, harms workers and businesses, strains a key trade partnership, and ignites a destructive trade war.
On the GOP side, McConnell warned of higher prices and harm to Kentucky industries, Paul objected to the use of emergency authority for tariffs, and Murkowski pondered why the U.S. was “fighting” Canada while “making nice” with Russia.
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) said in a statement after the vote on Wednesday that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had already declared Kaine’s resolution dead on arrival in the House, and it will never reach Trump’s desk.
Kaine’s “goal” was “to undermine President Trump’s successful work to secure the Northern Border,” he said, adding, “This meaningless messaging resolution will not stop Senate Republicans from making America’s communities safer.”