The US Senate took a stand against Donald Trump’s global tariffs affecting more than 100 countries on Thursday, voting to nullify the so-called “reciprocal” tariffs.
Four Republicans joined with all Democrats to vote 51-47 on a resolution to end the base-level tariffs that the president put into place via executive order.
It was the third time the Republicans have voted alongside Democrats on a tariff resolution this week, previously rallying to end tariffs targeting Brazil and Canada.
Going against Trump is rare for Republicans in his second term. But Republican senators Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined the opposition party.
The vote comes as Trump is wrapping up a week in Asia, where he struck a deal with China to lower tariffs on Chinese goods into the country and get China to buy up US soya beans, a pain point of the trade wars that had farmers on edge, among other concessions.
Despite the opposition in the Senate, the House is unlikely to take any similar action. House Republicans created a rule earlier this year that will block resolutions on the tariffs from getting a floor vote.
The tariff resolutions are a rebuke to the tariffs themselves and to Trump overstepping his authority and bypassing Congress. Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, told reporters that the symbolic opposition should catch the president’s attention.
“I did learn in the first Trump term that the president is responsive to things like this. When he sees Republicans starting to vote against his policies, even in small numbers, that makes an impression on him and can often cause him to alter his behavior,” Kaine said.
