Amid Economic Turmoil & Chaos, Leader Schumer & Senate Democrats Demand Speaker Johnson Immediately Put Senate-Passed Bipartisan Tariff Legislation Up For A Vote To End Trump’s Devastating Trade War With Canada & Ease Americans’ Economic Uncertainty

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Democrats wrote a letter to Speaker Johnson demanding the House take up the bipartisan, Senate-passed legislation that would end the misguided trade war with our longtime ally, Canada, and ease some of the economic turmoil American families are facing.

Today, in a new letter, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Ranking Member of the Finance Committee, Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) pressed Speaker Johnson to schedule a vote in the House of Representatives on Senate Joint Resolution 37, which would reverse President Trump’s tariffs on our ally, Canada. President Trump has been waging a misguided trade war – with no clear objective – on our allies across the globe. The result has been rising costs for American families, growing economic instability, and chaos for financial markets and Americans’ retirement savings. The tariffs on Canada are some of the most egregious, both because of our longtime partnership, and the faulty premise President Trump used to levy them. Last week, the Senate took a bipartisan stand against this devastating decision and rebuked Trump’s emergency declaration. Senate Democrats now call on Speaker Johnson to give his members the same opportunity and ease the some of the economic turmoil American families are facing.

“Canada is the United States’ second largest trading partner and longtime ally,” the Senators wrote. “This absurd and dangerous trade war has needlessly fractured the relationship between our two countries, thrown integrated manufacturing supply chains into disarray, and raised costs for American families and small businesses. The Senate has acted. The House should follow and schedule a vote without delay.”

The full text of the letter can be seen here and below. 

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Speaker Johnson:

We call on you to move without delay to schedule a vote in the House of Representatives on Senate Joint Resolution 37, which would terminate President Trump’s foolish and misguided trade war with our ally, Canada.

Plain and simple, the Trump Trade War is a Trump Tax on families, raising their costs by nearly $4,000 per year and devastating small businesses, forcing them to raise prices or lay off staff. It is a dangerous, foolish exercise that is wreaking havoc on the American economy and could tee up a recession. If the president doesn’t back off, Congress must take action – the Senate has already taken action to provide relief from tariffs on Canada, and the House should follow immediately.

On February 2, President Trump declared a so-called emergency with regard to the flow of illicit drugs from Canada, despite evidence from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that less 0.2 percent of fentanyl comes from our northern ally.

This was clearly a pretext to abuse the emergency authorities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to start a trade war with one of our closest allies and biggest trading partners. Situations like this are exactly why Congress created a privileged process to rescind emergencies under IEEPA.

Last week, the Senate exercised this authority and voted on a bipartisan basis to rescind the president’s emergency and end this ridiculous trade war. The House of Representatives already sidestepped this responsibility once in March, taking extraordinary steps to avoid the question of the legitimacy of the president’s declared emergency. Now that the Senate has weighed in, members of the House should have the opportunity to vote on whether to continue President Trump’s wrongheaded tariffs on Canada.

Canada is the United States’ second largest trading partner and longtime ally. This absurd and dangerous trade war has needlessly fractured the relationship between our two countries, thrown integrated manufacturing supply chains into disarray, and raised costs for American families and small businesses.

The Senate has acted. The House should follow and schedule a vote without delay.

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