Senate Blocks Trump's Brazil Tariffs

Paul, speaking on the Senate floor, called the tariff a tax on U.S. consumers.

The Kentucky Republican argued that the Constitution requires that “taxes must originate in the House” of Representatives.

“Yet, these taxes are originating with the White House,” he said.

McConnell, in a statement, said that Trump’s tariffs are hurting Kentucky businesses and farms.

“New trade barriers imposed this year have made it harder to sustain the supply chains that let thousands of Kentuckians build cars and appliances in the Commonwealth. Retaliatory tariffs on American products have turned agricultural income upside down for many of Kentucky’s nearly 70,000 family farms,” he said.

Tillis told reporters Tuesday afternoon that he would vote for the resolution to terminate Trump’s tariff authority because the president views a political squabble over a criminal justice matter as sufficient to justify new tariffs under IEEPA.

“Brazil had a trade surplus [with the United States], and the impetus behind [the tariff] appears to be a disagreement with a judicial proceeding. I just don’t think that’s a strong basis for using the trade lever,” Tillis said.

He warned that if a major trading partner is “all of a sudden” hit with a 50 percent tariff over an issue unrelated to business or trade, “that creates big uncertainty.”