Democrats in the U.S. Senate are moving forward on a resolution to block sweeping tariffs targeting Canada as President Donald Trump presses Republican lawmakers to continue backing his trade agenda.
Sen. Tim Kaine plans to force a vote on Trump's use of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, also called IEEPA, to declare an emergency over fentanyl trafficking to hit Canada with devastating duties.
"The president has justified the imposition of these tariffs on, in my view, a made-up emergency," Kaine said Tuesday.
U.S. government data shows the volume of fentanyl seized at the northern border is minuscule. The Annual Threat Assessment report, released last week, does not mention Canada in its section on illicit drugs and fentanyl.
IEEPA includes a provision allowing any senator to force a voteto block emergency powers. The vote will test whether Republican senators continue to back Trump's tariffs onCanada — tariffs that, according to polling, are not supported by most Americans.
It's not certain the resolution will hit the Senate floor Tuesday because Democrat Sen. Cory Booker has been delivering a marathon speech to oppose actions by the Trump administration.
Even if it gets enough Republican support to pass the Senate, Kaine's resolution probably won't stop Trump's emergency declaration because it's not likely to come up in the House.
In a worrying sign for Canadian officials watching to see whether the devastating duties are set to return onWednesday, Trump took to social media Tuesday to urge Republicans to vote against the resolution.
"Senator Tim Kaine, who ran against me with Crooked Hillary in 2016, is trying to halt our critical Tariffs on deadly Fentanyl coming in from Canada," Trump said. "We are making progress to end this terrible Fentanyl Crisis, but Republicans in the Senate MUST vote to keep the National Emergency in place, so we can finish the job, and end the scourge."
Earlier this month, Trump hit Canada and Mexico with 25 per cent across-the-board duties, with a lower 10 per cent levy onCanadian energy — then partly paused the tariffs a few days later. Trump said at the time that the pause would last until April 2.
A White House official confirmed Monday that no decision had been made on whether Trump will reinstate the duties onCanada and Mexico.
Since Trump returned to office in January, he has rattled global markets with his on-again, off-again trade war with the world.
Trump is set to lay out his plans to realign global trade through "reciprocal" tariffs Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET. A news release from the White House called it a "Make America Wealthy Again Event."
Trump has called it "Liberation Day" and has said he will impose "reciprocal" tariffs by increasing U.S. duties to match the tax rates other countries charge on imports. It's not clear what the latest levies could mean for Canada.
Thursday will also bring Trump's 25 per cent levies onautomobiles. The White House official said many of those duties will stack on top of each other if economywide tariffsreturn.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2025.
