Kaine, Colleagues Announce Vote on Bipartisan Effort to Repeal Trump’s Global Tariffs, Restore Congressional Authority Over Trade

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Rand Paul (R-KY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced that the Senate will vote today on their bipartisan resolution to repeal Donald Trump’s global tariffs and restore congressional authority over trade.

The binding measure would terminate the emergency that Trump declared in order to slap tariffs of up to 40% on products Americans buy from other countries. In the wake of Trump’s tariff declaration, costs have increased, manufacturers have laid off thousands of workers and halted domestic investments, and foreign countries have sharply cut purchases of American agricultural exports.

“Only Congress has the ability to levy taxes, but President Trump’s across-the-board tariffs amount to one of the largest tax hikes in U.S. history,” Kaine said. “Inflation hit an eight-month high in September, and we must protect Americans from this Administration’s disastrous economic policies. The Senate has the chance this week to vote to undo these new taxes that are raising costs and hurting Americans. I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will vote to protect American consumers and small businesses.”

“Tariffs are taxes. They drive up the costs for things Americans buy every day and make it harder for American businesses to thrive and create more jobs,” Paul said. “That is why the Constitution sets a high bar for enacting a new tax - Congress must pass a law and the President must sign it. These new taxes in the form of tariffs don’t just fail on economics, they fail on the Constitution and must be reversed.”

“From Japan to the European Union, Trump is hellbent on slapping tariffs on our allies to wreck the U.S. economy,” Wyden said. “Americans across our country are shouldering the cost of these tariffs, which are taxes jacking up the price of groceries, electronics, clothes, strollers, and other everyday goods. It’s way past time for Congress to take back its power over trade so that Trump’s disastrous trade war comes to an end once and for all.”

“Despite promising lower prices on ‘day one,’ President Trump’s economic decisions have been nothing short of erratic and inflationary. The American people cannot afford to be subject to the whims of Trump’s tantrums on tariffs,” Leader Schumer said. “The government was designed to exist in a system of checks and balances. And Democrats and Republicans in the Senate must – for the good of American families, our small businesses, and the United States economy – come together to reassert Congressional authority over trade and lower costs and temperatures.”

In April, the senators introduced a similar measure that narrowly failed on a 49-49 vote.

In addition to Kaine, Paul, Wyden, and Schumer, the legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Peter Welch (D-VT).

Full text of the legislation is available here.

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