WASHINGTON 鈥� Five Republican U.S. senators joined Democrats Tuesday to terminate President Donald Trump鈥檚 national emergency that triggered steep tariffs on goods from Brazil.
The vote came ahead of a major case before the Supreme Court that could decide whether many of the president鈥檚 tariffs violate the Constitution.
Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky, along with Alaska鈥檚 Lisa Murkowski, Maine鈥檚 Susan Collins and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, supported a joint resolution in a vote.
The measure鈥檚 passage in the Senate marks a shift from a in April, when Senate Republicans blocked a resolution to terminate Trump鈥檚 emergency tariffs on Canada. Murkowski, Collins and Paul also supported that measure.
The resolution is not likely to see a vote in the Republican-controlled U.S. House, meaning it is not likely to become law.
Coffee canister in the Senate
Senate Democrats forced Tuesday鈥檚 floor vote just days after they filed an amicus brief to find Trump鈥檚 unprecedented tariffs, triggered under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, unconstitutional. Murkowski was the lone Republican to join the brief.
The bill鈥檚 sponsor, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., spoke on the floor ahead of the vote with a canister of Maxwell House coffee beside him.
Kaine said Trump鈥檚 tariffs on Brazilian goods are an 鈥渁buse of presidential power that people are feeling every time they walk down a grocery store aisle to buy coffee for their families, to buy ground beef for their families.鈥�
鈥淣o president, Democrat or Republican, should be able to declare a national emergency justifying the imposition of 50% tariffs because a friend of theirs is being prosecuted for breaking the law in another country,鈥� he said.
Kaine used a decades-old law that allows the minority party to force a vote to terminate a national emergency.
Trump declared a national emergency and imposed a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports on July 30 after Brazil鈥檚 government of 鈥減olitically persecuting鈥� its former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro for a coup to remain in power in 2022.
鈥楴o taxation without representation鈥�
Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who cosponsored Kaine鈥檚 bill, said on the floor ahead of the vote Trump is using his emergency powers 鈥渢o tax us without our consent.鈥�
鈥淚, for one, still believe in the principle of no taxation without representation, and will vote to terminate this contrived emergency and end these unconstitutional import taxes,鈥� Paul said.
The vote to reverse Trump鈥檚 tariffs on Brazilian products was the first of three bipartisan resolutions this week protesting the administration鈥檚 emergency tariffs.
Kentucky鈥檚 senior senator and former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, 鈥淭ariffs make both building and buying in America more expensive.鈥�
鈥淭he economic harms of trade wars are not the exception to history, but the rule. And no cross-eyed reading of Reagan will reveal otherwise. This week, I will vote in favor of resolutions to end emergency tariff authorities,鈥� McConnell said, referring to Trump鈥檚 decision to another 10% tariff on Canadian goods. That came after the Ontario province ran an anti-tariff ad featuring the words of President Ronald Reagan.
Trump tariffs defended
Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, criticized the joint resolution as 鈥渃ounterproductive to the progress already made by President Trump.鈥�
鈥淭he president鈥檚 historic trade negotiations are bearing fruit. President Trump already announced new deals, trade deals with major trading partners, including, most recently, Cambodia and Malaysia. Other such announcements may still be forthcoming. I urge other trading partners to reach similar trading deals,鈥� Crapo, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, said on the floor ahead of the vote.
Both tariffs and climate change are to blame for the recent spike in coffee prices, the Los Angeles Times.
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