Senate Democrats Seek to Undo Trump’s Tariffs on Canadian Goods

‘These tariffs, I think, are hopefully temporary,’ Senate Majority Leader John Thune said.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., left, and Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., confer as the Senate Budget Committee works on the markup of the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Resolution, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. Senate Republicans are vowing to move quickly on a budget plan that could pave the way for billions more in additional border security and defense spending. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

The U.S. Senate is set to vote on legislation to reverse President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods.

SJ Res 37 aims to eliminate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law authorizing the president to regulate international commerce during a declared national emergency.

The Act is typically used to impose trade restrictions with foreign nations.

Trump invoked the decades-old law to justify implementing tariffs, alleging drug and immigration threats emanating from Canada, Mexico, and China.

Democrats in the upper chamber are attempting to undo Trump’s 25 percent import taxes on goods brought in from the northern neighbor.

They say the levies will raise prices for everyday items, impact workers, and harm relationships with U.S. trading partners.

“President Trump’s taxes on Canadian goods have sent our economy into chaos, and Americans aren’t buying what he’s selling,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who authored and introduced the resolution, said in a statement.

“They know they will pay the price with higher costs for everyday items, and their confidence in the economy is the lowest it has been in recent years.”

Kane confirmed to The Epoch Times that the vote will occur on either April 1 or April 2.

The bill received support from various organizations, including the National Taxpayers Union.

“Canada is an important supplier of goods that strengthen U.S. security, including crude oil, natural gas, steel, and aluminum,” the group said in a statement.

“Tariffs that restrict our access to these supplies and increase their cost will weaken our industrial base and undermine our ability to sustain our defense in the event of a national emergency.”

While the United Steelworkers (USW) lauded the president for tackling global steel and aluminum capacity, the union disagreed with targeting Canada.

“These new tariffs are misdirected, unsubstantiated by facts, and harmful to the very workers we represent,” USW International President David McCall said in a March 24 letter to senators.

SJ Res 37 would require the support of his 46 Democrat colleagues and four Republican senators to pass.

During last month’s government funding fight, House Republicans inserted a measure to prevent congressional resolutions from being introduced to eliminate the president’s tariffs.

‘Hopefully Temporary’

Some Republicans in the upper chamber have expressed concern surrounding tariffs, though some have agreed that the White House is using the trade measure as a negotiating tool.

Last month, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters that the administration’s tariff plans “are oriented around specific objectives,” such as curbing the flow of fentanyl entering the United States.

“These tariffs, I think, are hopefully temporary,” he said. “What I’m willing to do is give the president some latitude to try and accomplish the objective he seeks to get done here.”

In a speech on the Senate floor, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) urged the Canadian government to lower its tariffs to zero to avoid a prolonged trade dispute.

“If you [Prime Minister Mark Carney] think President Trump is being unfair and is not a free trader, then reduce your tariffs to zero, and ask President Trump to reduce our tariffs to zero on Canada, and let’s go back to being friends again,” Kennedy said on March 26.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 31, 2023. Mandel Ngan/AFP

Other GOP members have been outspoken in opposing the administration’s tariffs.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a co-sponsor of Kaine’s resolution, has regularly lambasted Trump’s tariffs on social media and in press interviews.

“Tariffs are simply taxes. Conservatives once united against new taxes. Taxing trade will mean less trade and higher prices,” Paul said in a Feb. 1 post on social media platform X.

Susan Collins (R-Maine) confirmed to reporters on March 31 that she would back Kaine’s resolution. “I agree with the intent,” she said, adding that her support would be based on a final review of the legislation’s text.

Last month, Collins told reporters she hoped Trump would reconsider his tariffs on Canada and examine how the United States’ northern neighbor is taking action to reduce the amount of illegal drugs crossing the border.

She cited a paper mill in Maine that receives its pulp from Canada.

“It’s come through a pipeline and then made into paper products on the American side. If there’s a tariff that is put on the pulp, it will jeopardize the financial well-being of that paper mill, which employs more than 500 people,” Collins said.

In February, the president imposed sweeping 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada. However, days later, he granted a 30-day pause to allow officials to employ their border agenda.

He announced on March 6 that he would again suspend tariffs on some Canadian goods until April 2.

Over the past month, Trump has announced a wave of levies that are expected to weigh heavily on the Canadian economy.

The president recently confirmed 25 percent levies on all steel and aluminum imports and 25 percent tariffs on foreign automobiles and car parts.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office published the 2025 National Trade Estimate Report on March 31, a prelude to the April 2 reciprocal tariffs.

The report concentrated on Canada’s supply-management systems to regulate the nation’s chicken, dairy, egg, and turkey industries, determining that the country imposes “prohibitively high tariffs” on U.S. imports above quota levels.

“The United States also remains concerned about potential Canadian actions that would further limit U.S. exports to the Canadian dairy market and continues to monitor closely any tariff reclassifications of dairy products to ensure that U.S. market access is not negatively affected,” the report stated.

Officials also assessed the nation’s customs, technical, services, and digital trade barriers.

U.S. total goods trade with Canada was an estimated $762 billion in 2024, according to data from the USTR.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Paul’s and Collins’s offices for comment.