Five Senate Republicans joined Democrats on Tuesday night to pass a resolution that would block US President Donald Trump’s high tariffs on Brazil.
The senate passed in a 52-48 vote, with Republican Senators Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky joined 47 Democrats in supporting the legislative blocking of Trump’s emergency declaration that slapped 50 per cent tariffs on goods worth billions of dollars from Brazil.
However, since the House passed a measure last month that blocks votes challenging Trump’s tariffs into next year, it is unlikely that the Senate’s rebuke of Trump’s tariffs will be taken up any time soon.
Until then, it remains largely symbolic, despite the bipartisan support.
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Trump has been highly critical of the BRICS bloc, accusing it of conspiring against the US and undermining the dollar’s value. He enacted tariffs on Brazil, some of the highest imposed on any country, as a response to the trial of his ally, former Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro.
This week, Trump met Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Malaysia, where both leaders suggested a trade deal between the two countries is likely.
The latest measure against Trump by the US senate is similar to another resolution passed in April, which would block the President’s administration from placing tariffs on Canadian products. Of the five Republicans who voted Tuesday to block the tariffs on Brazil, all but Tillis voted with Democrats on the measure in April. That resolution has not advanced in the House.
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