House Democrats are aiming to force a vote on President Donald Trump’s Canada tariffs as early as Wednesday.
House Democrats still need to meet and decide when to offer the resolution, but it is likely to come Wednesday, according to two staffers granted anonymity to discuss private plans.
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) introduced the resolution last March, but House Republican leaders blocked a vote on the measure and any others disapproving of Trump’s emergency powers to impose tariffs. That block expired in January, after a group of Republicans pushed leadership to allow tariff votes.
One of those lawmakers, Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), said he is inclined to vote to end the tariffs on Canada.
“We have a trade agreement with them, and I don’t like how the White House has treated our neighbor and ally,” Bacon said Monday in an interview.
If it is offered, it would force a difficult vote for Republican lawmakers, who have faced sustained pressure from businesses in their districts over the costs and disruptions the tariffs have produced.
The Senate has voted twice to block Trump from imposing tariffs on Canada, first in April and then again in October. Four Republican Senators voted with the Democrats each time: Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
The votes are largely symbolic — even if Congress disapproves of Trump’s national emergency, the president is likely to veto it, and it would require a two-thirds vote from both chambers to overturn his veto.
Trump used his emergency powers to impose a 25 percent tariff on goods from Canada, Mexico and China in February, accusing the three countries of failing to prevent undocumented migrants and fentanyl from flowing into the U.S.
The administration exempted the majority of Canadian goods from those tariffs, however, if they comply with the existing U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement.
Doug Palmer contributed to this article.
