US Senate rejects Trump's global tariff plan

Washington (Web Desk): In a rare bipartisan move, the United States (US) Senate on Thursday voted to overturn President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariff order, which had imposed duties on goods from more than a hundred countries.

The House passed the resolution 51–47, with four Republican senators breaking ranks to join Democrats in rejecting what Trump had described as his “reciprocal” tariff policy.

The measure marks the third occasion this week that Republicans have sided with Democrats to dismantle portions of the administration’s trade agenda, following earlier votes targeting tariffs on Brazil and Canada.

Republican dissent against Trump remains uncommon during his second term, yet Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska crossed party lines in favor of repeal.

The Senate’s action coincided with Trump’s visit to Asia, where he announced an understanding with China to scale back certain tariffs and secure increased Chinese imports of US soybeans—an effort to ease tensions that had long unsettled American farmers.

Still, the measure faces a dead end in the House of Representatives, where Republican leadership has adopted rules preventing tariff-related resolutions from being put to a vote, effectively shielding the policy from further legislative challenge.

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia described the Senate’s stance as a pointed message to the president, noting that even limited Republican defection tends to capture Trump’s attention.

“From what I saw in his first term, he does pay attention when members of his own party start pushing back,” Kaine said, adding that such signs of resistance can sometimes influence the president’s conduct.

The resolution represents not only disapproval of Trump’s tariff strategy but also congressional frustration over his use of executive authority to bypass legislative oversight in trade matters.