Delaware’s U.S. Senators both vote for resolution to support ending tariffs President Trump has imposed on Canada.
Sen. Chris Coons and Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester – both Democrats – voted for the resolution as it passed 51-48.
Coons co-sponsored the resolution led by Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine. The two introduced the STABLE Trade Police Act in February which would require congressional approval before a president could impose new tariffs on allies and free trade agreement partners.
On the Senate floor Wednesday night he also argued Trump’s reasoning for the tariffs imposed on Canada is flawed.
“Because of an emergency at our border – which I think is wholly unjustified by the data of how little fentanyl actually comes into our country across the northern border – President Trump is moving ahead with slapping tariffs on Canada,” said Coons.
Blunt Rochester like Coons attacked the reasoning for the tariffs imposed on Canada calling it an unnecessary national emergency.
While conceding fentanyl is a public health emergency, they say using it as a reason for the tariffs will place undue economic burden on working people here.
“These 19th century trade policies do not prepare us for a 21st century economy. We not only share a border with Canada but have also historically shared a strategic economic partnership. Everything from essential groceries and food products, to building supplies and fertilizers, and materials that implicate U.S. national security crosses our northern border each and every day,” said Blunt Rochester.
Coons also argued on the Senate floor that the sweeping new tariffs imposed on Wednesday would not make it Liberation Day as President Trump declared, but the effects would be felt here in the U.S.
“This is not Liberation Day, but Tax Day – a new national sales tax that will harm the imports we buy from virtually every country, and because of the countervailing tariffs, harm our exports,” said Coons. “A tariff is a tax.”
Blunt Rochester notes Delaware’s farmers, consumers and families will be the ones who foot the bill for these tariffs.
