Democrats could target Trump tariffs after midterm sweep with some GOP aid

Democrats gained strong control of both the House and the Senate in the Nov. 3 midterm elections and are expected to target President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda in some form. How effective these efforts to curb the broad-based, price-hiking tariff program can be is an open question.Democratic wins across geographic regions and demographic groups mean the party will hold up to 56 Senate seats in the 100-member chamber. The new House Democratic majority could reach into the 250s and possibly top 260, out of 435 lawmakers. That’s more than enough to hold successful votes challenging the tariffs the Trump administration has imposed in the president’s second, nonconsecutive term — which, even after an adverse Supreme Court ruling, have continued in other forms. Senate and House Republicans, soon to be in the minority, also may have political cover to vote against Trump’s trade agenda. While congressional Democrats are unlikely to get Trump to sign bills undoing his own agenda, they could force Republicans to take difficult votes on the tariffs. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) — both about to lose those leadership roles — have largely shielded rank-and-file GOP lawmakers from having to vote on Trump’s tariff agenda.Despite the sizable incoming House Democratic majorities, the numbers aren’t there to override Trump’s vetoes of party-line tariff bills. So, there would have to be some Republican buy-in to make them stick — an iffy political proposition with the remaining rump of GOP lawmakers representing states and districts where support for Trump still runs strong.Since returning to office, Trump has rolled out the most aggressive tariff regime in recent U.S. history. Republicans, once the party that defended deals to lower trade barriers, have mostly acquiesced. Democrats, on the other hand, largely campaigned in the midterm elections against the tariffs and sought to blame them for the high cost of living.Possible anti-tariff legislation With majorities in both chambers, Democrats will control the floor next year. They could bring up bills to strike down tariffs.Democratic strategist Jon Reinish said in an interview that a big midterm win for Democrats, as they got, would give Republicans “a lot of permission” to work on a bipartisan basis to tackle tariff policies.“I think that you’re also going to see a lot of folks, Reinish said, who “are in the agriculture-rich Corn Belt, where diesel prices and fertilizer prices have been driven sky high.”Trump’s most sweeping tariffs, implemented via the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, were struck down in the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, issued in February.Since then, the Trump administration has announced new tariffs using different authorities, including three executive orders imposing 50% tariffs on various Canadian products.Scott Lincicome, the vice president of general economics at the Cato Institute and an expert in trade policy, said in an interview he thinks Democrats might try to undo those Canadian tariffs. The tariffs on America’s northern neighbor have proven unpopular, particularly in the 13 border states and other states that do a lot of trade with Canada.“My guess is they might try to nix those, maybe throw in tariffs from any free trade agreement partner,” Lincicome said.And some Democrats have already indicated as much.Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), who is poised to become chairman of the tax-writing Finance Committee, said that the Canada tariffs are in the party’s crosshairs.“One of the most obvious priorities would be repealing Trump’s tariffs on Canada, which are raising prices and harming communities on both sides of the border,” Wyden said, according to Reuters.Some Republicans have already voted against the tariffs on Canada, too.For instance, in October of last year, four Republican senators — Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Rand Paul (R-KY), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) — joined Democrats in voting to terminate Trump’s tariffs on Canada.“Especially along the northern border — you’ve got a bunch of Republicans who’ve already expressed concern about tariffs,” Peter Loge, director of the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs, said in an interview ahead of the election.“Once this election is over, I think a lot of Republicans will be happy to join with what will then be a bipartisan coalition for a more nuanced approach to tariffs,” he said.Lincicome also said Congress could repeal specific laws that Trump has used to impose tariffs, such as Section 122.Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 allows the president to impose temporary tariffs to protect the dollar and prevent imbalances in payments with other countries.“In that kind of nitty-gritty space, they could also actually get into the laws themselves and say things like, ‘OK, the president should be able to impose tariffs for national security under Section 232, but the law is really poorly written, and we need to revise what a national security threat means,’” he said.Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 gives the president broad power to levy tariffs when there is a threat to national security.Meanwhile, some traditional free-market conservatives have placed a lot of the blame for Republicans’ loss on Trump’s economic policies, including tariffs.FARMERS HAVE GOTTEN AN ‘ASTRONOMICAL’ $43 BILLION IN SUBSIDIES DIRECTLY FROM TRUMP ADMINISTRATION“When voters trust Ds over Rs on the economy, we have really screwed up a traditional advantage,” Marc Short, chairman of Advancing American Freedom and former chief of staff to then-Vice President Mike Pence, said on X.“Turns out global tariffs, taking stakes in private companies (41), and embracing price controls doesn’t help the economy and voters don’t like it,” Short said.Zach Halaschak (@zhalaschak) is the economics reporter for the Washington Examiner, based in Washington, D.C.