Senators Make Modest Moves To Reclaim Tariff Powers From Trump
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump made good on his promise to impose tariffs on nearly every nation, principality, and uninhabited island on the planet—an event he dubbed “Liberation Day.” The measure would place 10-percent tariffs across the board, with additional duties imposed on dozens of countries next week. Markets have plummeted in response.
There is now a small but growing bipartisan movement in the U.S. Senate to narrow or undo Trump’s tariffs. While encouraging, the efforts so far are much too modest, especially since the power to impose taxes and tariffs belongs to Congress in the first place.
Hours after the announcement on Wednesday, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution from Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) that would undo tariffs Trump had previously imposed on Canada. Trump justified that move at the time through an emergency declaration about “the extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl.” Under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the president can unilaterally impose tariffs in order to address “any unusual and extraordinary threat…to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States, if the President declares a national emergency with respect to such threat.”
Paul’s Senate resolution would remove Canada from the declaration, as less than 1 percent of all fentanyl seized in the U.S. comes across the northern border. The resolution “faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled House and a near-certain veto if it reaches Trump’s desk,” Reason‘s Eric Boehm wrote, “but it also represents a small glimmer of hope, as it is the first serious attempt by Congress at limiting the president’s ability to smash free trade.”
Sen. Tim Kaine (D–Va.), who co-sponsored the measure, also told Semafor‘s Eleanor Mueller on Thursday that he would be drafting a motion of disapproval targeting Trump’s 10-percent “across-the-board” tariffs.
That same day, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R–Iowa) and Maria Cantwell (D–Wash.) introduced the Trade Review Act of 2025. The bill would amend the Trade Act of 1974 to require the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of “imposing or increasing a du
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