Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine has been spearheading an effort to reassert congressional authority over trade with a joint resolution that would effectively end a 40 percent tariff on imports from Brazil.
The measure passed, 52-48, with the support of five Republicans who sided with Democrats in the Oct. 28 vote, including Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the former Senate GOP leader.
President Donald Trump imposed the tariff hike after declaring a national emergency in July, citing free speech violations and the prosecution of former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally. Kaine made it clear that his measure ending the emergency was also meant to reign in Trump’s use of presidential powers. “I’m against tariffs generally, unless they’re used very specifically, but I’m also against letting presidents just invent a reason to use emergency powers to do all kinds of things without coming to Congress,” Kaine told reporters.
