After rebuking Trump’s tariffs on Canada with a bipartisan vote, Sen. Tim Kaine says he’s not done yet.
The Democrat told NBC News today that he will target any tariffs issued by Trump under his emergency powers as president and that he believes the 10% tariffs announced yesterday qualify.
To force a vote on the tariffs in the GOP-controlled Senate, Democrats need to stick to the duties that they can challenge under the law granting the president those authorities, known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Kaine says he “really had to round people up” to build support for the tariff resolution that the Senate approved yesterday, which gained support from a handful of Republicans.
“Now I have a lot of people who want to do it, who want to be co-sponsors,” Kaine said. He acknowledged that the interest largely seems to be on the Democratic side of the aisle for now.
But any further targeting of the president’s tariffs won’t happen this week or next week.
Once Kaine and the other co-sponsors determine which tariffs to go after, 15 calendar days need to pass before the Senate can consider it. That means any vote likely won’t take place until the end of April, after the Senate returns from its two-week recess.