The Senate is headed for another showdown over free trade after Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) announced legislation to wipe out President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs.
Paul is joining Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and five other Democrats to introduce a measure that ends the emergency declaration Trump used to levy a wave of tariffs as high as 50% on dozens of nations. The resolution is privileged, meaning Senate Republicans have no choice but to hold a floor vote.
Last week, a more narrow resolution ending Trump’s tariffs on Canada passed the Senate with the help of Paul and three other Republicans.
“I don’t have any bad feeling towards the president, but this is an issue that I’m not alone on,” Paul told the Washington Examiner, pointing to uneasy investors who have cumulatively lost trillions in the stock market over the tariff announcement.
The efforts to repeal Trump’s early steps on trade are symbolic. The House limited members’ ability to bring up a similar vote, while the president is likely to veto any resolution that does come to his desk.
Still, the legislation is tearing at GOP unity after weeks of the party acting in lockstep on Trump’s agenda. Seven Republicans have co-sponsored a separate measure that would ramp up congressional oversight of the president’s tariff authority, though that legislation lacks the support of leadership and won’t come up for a vote.
Separately, X CEO Elon Musk, a free trade advocate, has been feuding with Trump’s trade advisers in the first genuine sign of friction in their relationship.
Trump’s 10% baseline tariffs went into effect on Saturday with the additional tariffs on 86 countries set to take effect on Wednesday. The markets showed some signs of recovering on Tuesday but spent days cratering on the heels of the president’s sweeping announcement that rattled allies and foes alike.
Trump has also been engaging in a tit-for-tat trade war with China, announcing a 104% tariff after China retaliated over his “Liberation Day” announcement.
Top GOP leaders have given Trump space to negotiate new trade deals, with the tariffs serving as a form of leverage. The White House says nearly 70 countries have reached out to engage in trade talks.
But Paul has not given the president the same breathing room. He also co-sponsored the privileged resolution to revoke the Canadian tariffs the Senate passed last Wednesday, the day Trump announced the global duties.
He has not signed on to the tariff authority bill, sponsored by President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley (R-IA), arguing it still delegates too much power to Trump. The legislation would sunset any tariff levied by the president after 60 days without congressional approval.
Paul has separate legislation, the No Taxation Without Representation Act, that denies the executive branch any tariff authority apart from Congress.
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“Once you sign on to the Grassley bill, you’re acknowledging that the president can put tariffs on,” Paul told reporters on Tuesday. “I don’t think there’s a constitutional rationale for the president to put tariffs on.”
Wyden, the top Democratic co-sponsor, announced the latest privileged resolution at a Tuesday morning hearing with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, accusing the Trump administration of “clobbering American families and small businesses” with the new tariffs.