The US House of Representatives has voted to rescind tariffs imposed on Canada by former President Donald Trump, in a bipartisan move that defied threats of electoral retaliation from the White House, as outlined by The Guardian.
The resolution, which passed by 219 votes to 211, saw six Republicans break ranks to join all Democrats except Jared Golden of Maine, who voted against it. The Republicans who supported the measure were Don Bacon of Nebraska, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Kevin Kiley of California, Dan Newhouse of Washington and Jeff Hurd of Colorado.
Before the vote was finalised, Trump posted on Truth Social that any Republican voting against tariffs would “seriously suffer the consequences come Election time”, including in primaries. He asserted that tariffs had provided “Economic and National Security” and that no Republican should destroy this privilege. In a separate post, he claimed Canada had “taken advantage of the United States on Trade for many years” and was “among the worst in the World to deal with”, urging Republicans to keep tariffs in place.
The measure now proceeds to the Senate, where a similar show of displeasure has already been expressed through a previous vote to reject Trump’s tariffs. For the tariff rollbacks to take effect, both chambers would need to approve the resolution and send it to Trump for his signature or veto, which the White House indicated was unlikely. Kevin Hassett, director of the White House’s national economic council, said officials were “disappointed” and that the president would ensure his tariffs are not repealed.
The resolution, put forward by Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House foreign affairs committee, aims to terminate the national emergency that Trump declared a year ago to impose the tariffs. The administration had claimed that illicit drug flow from Canada constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat, allowing tariffs outside the terms of the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said Trump’s tariffs were “causing prices to skyrocket and creating unnecessary uncertainty for American families”. After the vote, he stated that House Democrats had “forced a successful vote to detonate the Trump tariffs on Canada”, accusing “sycophantic Republicans” of trying to block action.
In contrast, Brian Mast, the Republican chair of the House foreign affairs committee, argued that fentanyl flow into the US is a dire national emergency and the policy must remain. He said the resolution was not about tariffs but Democrats “trying to ignore that there is a fentanyl crisis”. Experts note that fentanyl produced by cartels in Mexico is largely smuggled into the US from land crossings in California and Arizona, with a much lesser extent coming from Canada.
The vote followed failed efforts by House speaker Mike Johnson to prevent a showdown. Johnson had insisted lawmakers wait for a pending Supreme Court ruling on the tariffs’ legality and engineered a rules change to block floor action, but his strategy collapsed late on Tuesday when Republicans peeled off during a procedural vote. Johnson said the president’s trade policies had been “of great benefit” and needed more “runway” to be worked out between the executive and judicial branches.
Ahead of the vote, some Republican lawmakers expressed unease. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who is retiring, said he was unpersuaded by Johnson’s call to wait, arguing that Congress should “stand on its own two feet” as an independent branch and that tariffs are bad economic policy. Others, like Keith Self of Texas, said they would “support our president”, while Darrell Issa, a California Republican, stated he did not want to “tie the president’s hands on trade” and was ready to support the tariffs “at this time”.
The high-stakes moment highlights unease in the House with the president’s direction, particularly ahead of midterm elections where economic issues resonate. Trump has recently threatened to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada over that country’s proposed China trade deal, intensifying a feud with the longtime US ally and Prime Minister Mark Carney.
