Senate Vote to End Canada Tariffs to Happen Again in September
Although a majority of the Senate voted to end the underlying emergency that allowed the president to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian goods, a vote was blocked in the House.
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The leader of that push, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., toldInternational Trade Today that the six-month clock that would allow him to request another vote is tied to the president's initial announcement of the emergency in February, not the timing of the last vote in the Senate, in early April.
So, he said, he will announce his intention to force a vote again during the August break.
Unless 16 more Republicans join the four who supported the resolution last time, the Senate would not have the veto-proof majority it would need to end the tariffs. House Speaker Mike Johnson blocked any vote in that chamber through a technicality supported by Republicans on the Rules Committee.
The impact of the Canada tariffs has been blunted by excepting goods that meet USMCA rules of origin. Tariffs under Section 232 on Canadian aluminum, steel, cars and car parts still apply, even if the Canadian exports meet the trade deal's rule of origin. President Donald Trump has said that the 25% rate will go to 35% on Aug. 1.
Kaine, who has vowed to fight the imposition of 50% tariffs on Brazil, said in a hallway interview at the Capitol July 24 that the way the president decides to go from threat to policy will affect his ability to put up a roadblock. If the president uses the existing International Emergency Economic Powers Act declaration based on trade deficits, it will be early October before the six-month clock is ready again.
If he declares a new IEEPA emergency, Kaine will challenge it once it's sent to Congress. "My staff just knows to watch for the communication coming over," he said.
However, if Trump uses a Section 301 investigation -- one was just launched -- Kaine will be able only to register a comment, not force a vote.
"It's when he sends a communication to the Senate that I'm going to do it right? So I have to wait," he said. "So I have to wait for the communication in order to launch a challenge" via IEEPA.
According to the Congressional Research Service, an emergency termination resolution can be considered every six months under expedited procedures, if a member of Congress introduces one. The expedited procedure is supposed to keep a committee from bottling up the resolution. But the House Rules Committee, under both Democrats and Republicans, has stopped the chance for a vote to end emergencies.