House Approves Bid to End Trump’s Tariffs on Canada

(The Epoch Times)—The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution seeking to end President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada.

The lower chamber voted 219–211 on Feb. 11. Six Republicans—Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.)—joined all but one of their Democratic colleagues.

Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) was the lone Democratic vote against the measure.

As House members rebuked his trade agenda, Trump vowed on Truth Social that “any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against tariffs will seriously suffer the consequences come election time, and that includes primaries!”

In March, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced legislation to terminate the president’s tariffs on Canada, alleging that they were a “misuse of emergency authorities.”

“The Speaker continues to abdicate his responsibilities, ceding Congress’s Article I authority to Donald Trump,” Meeks said in a Feb. 10 statement on X.

“Republicans now face a clear choice: go on the record and join Democrats in ending these cost-raising tariffs, or keep forcing American families to pay for them.”

The vote comes one day after three Republicans—Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.)—voted with Democrats to defeat a rule that would have blocked votes in the lower chamber on the president’s tariffs through July 31.

House Republicans have relied on this procedural rule to prevent members from rebuking Trump’s trade strategy.

As part of the president’s global trade agenda, blanket tariffs were imposed on Canada surrounding border-security concerns and the flow of fentanyl.

Trump paused levies for one month this past spring after Ottawa had committed to bolstering security at the U.S.-Canada border.

The president later amended his executive action to exempt goods compliant with the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement.

Congress has attempted to reverse these import duties on one of America’s largest trading partners.

Now that it has passed in the lower chamber, it needs to make its way through the Senate before it can head to the president’s desk for his signature.

While he is likely to veto the bill, it could be a symbolic victory for his Democratic opponents, who are spotlighting their pushback against the tariffs.

This is not the first time lawmakers have attempted to curb Trump’s use of emergency statutes, particularly the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Four Republicans—Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)—voted with Democrats in October to pass a resolution scrapping IEEPA.

The emergency‑powers statute lets a president control international trade during a declared national emergency and has typically been used to restrict commerce with foreign nations. Trump relied on this law to justify placing tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, citing threats related to fentanyl and unlawful immigration.

U.S. officials are still waiting for a Supreme Court determination on whether IEEPA can be used to justify these tariffs.

Newhouse, who is not running for reelection, told The Epoch Times after the vote that “the court’s going to help us” assess the constitutionality of the president’s trade measures.

“I think that we have a say in some of these issues, like tariffs on imports. That’s Congress’s realm,” he added, telling reporters that his Washington district has many Canadian-owned businesses.

The vote marked a rare moment of opposition to the president from at least some House Republicans. Yet, Democrats sounded pessimistic about the prospect of snowballing defections from within Trump’s party.

“I appreciate the handful of Republicans who had the courage to vote yes. There’s a lot more who didn’t have the courage to vote yes, but disagree with Trump’s tariffs,” Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) told The Epoch Times.

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, told The Epoch Times that Trump “controls, kind of, what’s on the floor.”

US–Canada Trade Relationship

Trade relations between the United States and Canada have deteriorated.

Shortly after Canada reached a new trade agreement with China—effectively allowing thousands of new Chinese electric vehicles into the country in exchange for lower tariff rates on canola—Trump threatened a 100 percent tariff on Canadian goods.

“If ‘Governor’ Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken,” Trump posted on Truth Social last month.

“China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life.”

Appearing before the Senate Banking Committee on Feb. 5, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told lawmakers that the administration could not allow its “northern border be used as a way for Chinese EVs” to enter the United States.

This was a reversal of the president’s immediate reaction, when he told reporters it was a “good thing” for Prime Minister Mark Carney to get a deal done with Beijing.

In his speech at the World Economic Forum, Carney told the audience that the “old order is not coming back.”

“Middle powers must act together because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu,” Carney said.

Trump, during his speech in Davos, stated that Canada should be grateful to the United States.

“I watched your prime minister yesterday. He wasn’t so grateful, but they should be grateful to us. Canada lives because of the United States,” Trump said.

While the Canadian economy has struggled for the past decade, economic conditions have worsened since the Trump administration implemented tariffs on Canadian imports.

In November, the gross domestic product was measured at zero percent following a 0.3 percent contraction in October, according to Statistics Canada.

Preliminary estimates suggest the Canadian economy expanded 0.1 percent in December.

Additionally, Canada lost nearly 25,000 jobs in January, falling short of the consensus estimate of a 7,000 gain.

By comparison, the U.S. economy registered 3.8 percent growth in the second quarter and 4.4 percent in the third quarter.

It is on track to post an expansion of about 4 percent in the final three months of 2025.

The United States, Canada, and Mexico will engage in a joint review of the post-NAFTA trade deal this summer.

Nathan Worcester contributed to this report.