Five Republican senators shocked Trump supporters by voting with Democrats to end his steep tariffs on Brazil.
The Senate passed a resolution 52 to 48 on Tuesday to cancel Trump’s 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports like coffee, oil, and orange juice.
The Republicans who voted against Trump were Mitch McConnell, Thom Tillis, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Rand Paul. They joined 47 Democrats to pass the measure.
Rand Paul called the tariffs a tax on Americans. “Taxes must originate in the House,” he said on the Senate floor. “Yet, these taxes are originating with the White House.”
McConnell said Trump’s tariffs are hurting Kentucky businesses and farms. “New trade barriers imposed this year have made it harder to sustain the supply chains that let thousands of Kentuckians build cars and appliances,” he said.
“Retaliatory tariffs on American products have turned agricultural income upside down for many of Kentucky’s nearly 70,000 family farms.”
Tillis said he opposed the tariffs because Trump was using trade to punish Brazil over politics. “Brazil had a trade surplus, and the impetus behind [the tariff] appears to be a disagreement with a judicial proceeding. I just don’t think that’s a strong basis for using the trade lever,” he said.
“If a major trading partner is all of a sudden hit with a 50 percent tariff over an issue unrelated to business or trade, that creates big uncertainty.”
Trump imposed the tariffs in July after former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for allegedly plotting a coup. The White House called the charges “unjust” and warned that “political persecution” would hurt Brazil’s institutions.
The U.S. ran a $6.8 billion trade surplus with Brazil in 2024, yet Trump used emergency powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose the tariffs. Critics say it was more political than economic.
The resolution is mostly symbolic. Speaker Mike Johnson is unlikely to bring it to the House, and Trump would veto it if it reached his desk. But the vote exposed cracks in Republican support for Trump.
American consumers are already feeling it. Coffee prices jumped to $9.14 per pound last month, 41% higher than September 2024. Farmers can’t sell their crops or meat.
Featured image via Youtube screengrab
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