The United States House of Representatives has advanced a bill that would reverse President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada.
The final tally saw 219 votes in favour of ending Trump’s use of emergency powers to slap tariffs on Canada. A minority, comprised of 211 representatives, voted against the bill.
Six House Republicans voted for the resolution, and one Democrat voted against it.
Trump recently threatened to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada over that country’s proposed China trade deal, intensifying a feud with the longtime US ally and Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Trump believes in the power of tariffs to force US trade partners to the negotiating table. However, lawmakers are facing unrest back home from businesses caught in the trade wars and constituents navigating pocketbook issues and high prices.
Polls have shown that Trump’s tariffs are largely unpopular with voters, who blame them in part for rising prices on some goods.
Before the vote, Democrats challenged their Republican colleagues to defy Trump.
Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who authored the resolution, said, “Today’s vote is simple, very simple: Will you vote to lower the cost of living for the American family or will you keep prices high out of loyalty to one person- Donald J. Trump?”
The resolution put forward by Meeks would terminate the national emergency that Trump declared a year ago to impose Tariffs on Canada as one of his executive orders.
The administration claimed illicit drug flow from Canada constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat that allows the president to slap tariffs on imported goods outside the terms of the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
Currently, the Supreme Court is also weighing the legality of Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs, after the president faced defeat in lower-court rulings.
Ahead of the House vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson had urged the Republican caucus to abstain from voting until the high court rendered its decision.
“The President’s trade policies have been of great benefit and I think the sentiment is that we allow a little more runway for this to be worked out between the executive branch and the judicial branch.”
Mike Johnson
However, six Republican representatives, including Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Don Bacon of Nebraska and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, defied him to help bring the measure to the floor for a vote.
Trump Threatens Election Prospects Of Republicans In Support Of Bill
The vote comes as the US enters its pivotal midterm election season. Primaries begin in March, and the general election unfolds in November. All members of the House of Representatives will be on the ballot in their respective districts.
Trump, meanwhile, threatened to derail the election prospects of any Republican who voted in favour of the bill.
Trump wrote on social media in the lead-up to the vote, “Any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time, and that includes Primaries.”
In a second post, he accused Canada, one of the US’s biggest trading partners and closest allies, of mistreating its southern neighbour.
“Canada has taken advantage of the United States on Trade for many years. They are among the worst in the World to deal with, especially as it relates to our Northern Border. TARIFFS make a WIN for us, EASY. Republicans must keep it that way!”
Donald Trump
The bill now heads to the US Senate, where it is likely to pass. That chamber had already passed similar legislation designed to curtail Trump’s Canada tariff, first in April and later in October of last year.
However, the legislation is unlikely to become law. Even if it passes the Senate, Trump is poised to veto the bill.
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