Senate Votes 52-48 to End 40% Tariff Tranche on Brazil
A majority of senators voted to end the emergency underpinning an additional 40% tariff on the majority of Brazilian goods, with four Republicans joining the entire Democratic caucus.
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Ahead of the Oct. 28 vote, Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a floor speech, "The real reason Donald Trump is imposing these tariffs, by his own words, is to settle his own personal scores, and pressure the Brazilian government to let their corrupt former president off the hook. In his letter announcing the tariffs, Trump called the prosecution of former President [Jair] Bolsonaro a 'witch hunt.' Mr. Bolsonaro was convicted of masterminding a failed coup. There is no way that taking money out of Americans’ wallets to protect one corrupt politician in South America makes a lick of sense."
The emergency was declared under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and the president said it was both the prosecution of Bolsonaro and restrictions on U.S. social media platforms that justified the tariff. Before this action, Brazilian goods were only subject to an additional 10% tariff, because Brazil buys more American goods than it exports to the U.S.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., have led the push to roll back some of the IEEPA emergencies, with votes earlier this year on the Canada fentanyl tariffs and on the Liberation Day tariffs. The Canada proposal passed; the Liberation Day vote failed, but Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and one Democrat were absent that day. McConnell voted to roll back the Canada and Brazil emergencies.
"I’m grateful that my Senate colleagues voted to pass our bipartisan legislation to undo Trump’s tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of goods from Brazil," Kaine said in a statement after the vote. "Today’s vote sends an important message to the Trump Administration that the American people are not interested in starting unnecessary trade wars that will raise the cost of everyday goods like coffee and weaken our economy. I urge the House of Representatives to take this bill up and undo this tax on Americans."
The House leadership made changes to that chamber's rules to block the statutory requirement to have a vote there, if requested. But even if there were a vote, the Senate support is not nearly high enough to overcome a veto. That would require 67 votes against the emergency.
"It’s about time one chamber of Congress stood up to President Trump and reclaimed our constitutional authority over tariffs. Too bad the House can’t show the same backbone because of Speaker [Mike] Johnson’s rule blocking votes on tariffs," Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee ranking member Linda Sánchez said in a statement after the Senate vote.
Kaine noted that American businesses import more than $40 billion annually from Brazil, including nearly $2 billion worth of coffee. His release said that U.S.-Brazil trade supports almost 130,000 U.S. jobs.