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Reuters, WASHINGTON
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The US House of Representatives on Wednesday narrowly backed a measure disapproving of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, a rare rebuke of the president and leaders of his party in the Republican-majority House.
Lawmakers voted 219 to 211 in favor of a resolution to terminate Trump’s use of a national emergency to put punitive trade measures on Canadian goods, as six Republicans joined all but one Democrat in favor.
It was an important symbolic vote in the chamber, where Trump’s Republicans hold a slim 218-214 majority. The resolution stands a good chance of passage in the US Senate, which has voted twice to block Trump from imposing tariffs on Canada despite his Republicans holding more seats.
Trucks cross the Blue Water Bridge between Port Huron, Michigan, and Sarnia, Ontario, on Dec. 8 last year.
Photo: Reuters
However, it is unlikely to become law, as it would take two-thirds majorities in both chambers to overcome an expected Trump veto. Most Republicans have been unwilling to oppose Trump’s policies.
The House approved the resolution a day after three Republicans joined Democrats to narrowly defeat an effort by Republican leaders to block legislative challenges to Trump’s tariffs.
Members of Congress have been expressing frustration over rising costs for US consumers as well as the impact of tariffs on businesses involved in international trade.
US Representative Gregory Meeks, who introduced the resolution, said it was about lowering the cost of living for American families, disputing claims that there was a drug-related national emergency as Trump had claimed to justify tariffs against Canada.
“Canada isn’t a threat. Canada is our friend. Canada is our ally,” Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a speech before the vote.
Trump warned that any Republican in the House or Senate who voted against the tariffs would “seriously suffer the consequences come election time.”
He also took a shot at Canada, saying it had taken advantage of the US on trade.
“They are among the worst in the World to deal with, especially as it relates to our Northern Border,” he wrote on social media.
Some members of Congress have also objected to Trump’s repeated use of executive orders to set tariffs, especially on close allies such as Canada, stating that the US Constitution gives that right to Congress, not the president.
Last month, the Yale Budget Lab said the annual median cost of the Trump administration’s tariffs was about US$1,400 for each US household.
The nonpartisan Tax Foundation in a report released last week estimated the cost at US$1,000 per household last year, rising to US$1,300 this year.
