Senate could vote to end emergency declaration Trump uses for Canadian tariffs

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day," or the day he rolls out a new set of tariffs, is this week – and Senate Democrats are putting Republican support to the test by forcing a vote to nullify the emergency declaration that forms the basis for the tariffs on Canada.

Here’s what to know: 

Senate vote to reverse Trump's Canada tariffs

What we know:

A resolution from Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia would end the emergency declaration that Trump signed in February to implement tariffs on Canada as punishment for not doing enough to halt the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S. If the Senate passes the resolution, it would still need to be taken up by the Republican-controlled House.

The backstory:

Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs on Canada, Mexico and elsewhere have been overall supported by Republicans, although many have watched with some unease as the president's attempts to remake global trade have sent the stock market downward.

Dig deeper:

While Kaine’s resolution offered uneasy Republicans a potential off-ramp to the tariffs levied on Canadian imports, Republican leaders were trying to keep senators in line by focusing on fentanyl that comes into the U.S. over its northern border. It was yet another example of how Trump is not only reorienting global economics, but upending his party's longtime support for ideas like free trade.

By the numbers:

A small portion of the fentanyl that comes into the U.S. enters from Canada. Customs and Border Protection seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the northern border during the 2024 fiscal year, and since January, authorities have seized less than 1.5 pounds, according to federal data. Meanwhile, at the southern border, authorities seized over 21,000 pounds last year.

FILE - Flags from Canada and the United Sates of America are shown in Milton, Ontario, on March 7, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Francis Wallace/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

What they're saying:

Kaine warned that tariffs on Canadian goods would ripple through the economy, making it more expensive to build homes and military ships.

"We’re going to pay more for our food products. We’re going to pay more for building supplies," Kaine said. "So people are already complaining about grocery prices and housing costing too much. So you raise the cost of building supplies and products. It’s a big deal."

Meanwhile, Trump has claimed that the amount of fentanyl coming from Canada is "massive" and pledged to follow through on Wednesday by implementing tariffs.

"There will never have been a transformation of a Country like the transformation that is happening, for all to see, in the United States of America," the president said on social media Monday.

Republican leaders in the Senate have signaled they aren't exactly fans of tariffs, but argued that Trump is using them as a negotiating tool.

"I am supportive of using tariffs in a way to accomplish a specific objective, in this case ending drug traffic," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters last month. He said this week that his "advice remains the same."

Some in GOP voice dissatisfaction with trade war

Big picture view:

While Trump's close allies in the Senate were standing steadfastly by the idea of remaking the U.S. economy through tariffs, others have begun openly voicing their dissatisfaction with trade wars that could disrupt industries and raise prices on autos, groceries, housing and other goods.

"I’m keeping a close eye on all these tariffs because oftentimes the first folks that are hurt in a trade war are your farmers and ranchers," Sen. Steve Daines, a Montana Republican, told the Associated Press. 

Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, said he would prefer to see the U.S. and its trading partners move to remove all tariffs on each other, but he conceded that Trump's tariff threats had injected uncertainty into global markets.

"We’re in uncharted waters," Kennedy told reporters. "Nobody knows what the impact of these tariffs is going to be."