House Votes to Rescind Trump’s Tariffs on Canada

Six Republicans broke with their party and voted alongside Democrats on Wednesday to rescind President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada.

A resolution, sponsored by Rep. Gregory Meeks, to end the national-emergency declaration Trump issued to enact tariffs on Canada passed in a 219-210 vote.

In February, Trump declared a national emergency related to fentanyl and other illicit drug trafficking along the northern border. The president implemented a 25% tariff on Canadian imported goods, later raising it to 35%.

The tariffs have strained the U.S.’s diplomatic relationship with one of its top trading partners and put Republicans from states that trade heavily with the northern neighbor in a tough spot.

The vote is a major hit to Republican leadership — and came a day after the House narrowly defeated a rule from Speaker Mike Johnson, which included a provision to block resolutions of disapproval on Trump’s tariffs until July 31.

Three Republicans — Reps. Don Bacon, Kevin Kiley and Thomas Massie — voted against Johnson’s rule on Tuesday. They were joined by Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Dan Newhouse and Jeff Hurd on the vote Wednesday to rescind the tariffs on Canadian imports.

Trump is all but certain to veto the resolution, but the vote is an example of a Republican Party increasingly willing to break with the White House on trade policy. The White House expected the Republican defectors and focused its lobbying efforts with lawmakers on preventing a potential veto override, Politico reported.

The Senate passed its own resolution in October when four moderate Republicans voted with Democrats to rescind the tariffs on Canada.

Meeks, who introduced the resolution in March, said earlier this week that Republicans “know that there’s no emergency in Canada.”

Meeks praised his colleagues across the aisle for “standing up” to Trump with their vote.

“To the six Republicans that voted for this, they didn’t vote for it because, you know, just me asking. They sincerely, I believe, voted for it because it was important for their constituency,” Meeks told reporters. “I thank them for the courage of what they did, and I hope that they will be with us as we look at other tariff bills that was put forward by the President.”

Meeks declined to give specifics on when he might offer resolutions on Trump’s other tariffs, including those on Brazil and global tariffs, but said he would like to get to work as soon as the week after recess.

Several Republicans have expressed concern about Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods. Bacon said Canada is purchasing fewer American exports and extending fewer contracts with businesses in his district as a result.

“We’re paying for it economically,” the Republican from Nebraska said. “Why doesn’t Congress stand up on its own two feet and say that we’re an independent branch and this is an Article 1 responsibility?”

Newhouse of Washington state told NOTUS Wednesday ahead of the vote that “Canada is a very important trading partner for my state.”

Fewer Republicans publicly took issue with Johnson’s proposed rule. Kiley said he didn’t like the speaker “smuggling” a political issue into a procedural rule. But his “no” vote Tuesday was also about preserving the balance of power in Congress, he said.

“We have very few types of resolutions that are considered privileged, where members can bring it to the floor themselves. And so turning that off is a transfer of authority from members to leadership,” Kiley said.

“Whatever you think of one particular tariff or another, I think there ought to be a role for the U.S. Congress in at least debating and discussing the issue,” he added.

Meanwhile, Rep. Victoria Spartz — who supported Johnson’s rule — made her opposition to Meeks’ resolution clear in a post to X ahead of the vote, citing Canada’s “soft” policies on Russia and drug traffickers.

Johnson argued that Congress must refrain from disapproving of Trump’s tariffs until the Supreme Court hands down a decision in the president’s tariffs case. During oral arguments in November, the justices appeared skeptical of whether Trump’s invocation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act was constitutional.