Trump tariff rebuke: GOP senators to join Dems in opposing Canada plan

Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news on Trump's tariffs for Tuesday, April 1. For the latest news, view our story for Wednesday, April 2.

In what would be a rebuke to President Donald Trump, a Senate resolution to end the emergency declaration enabling tariffs against Canada is likely to have enough Republican votes to pass the chamber, according to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky. 

Paul is co-sponsoring the resolution with Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, who wants to force GOP lawmakers to go on the record on the policy. Trump implemented the emergency declaration in February to put tariffs on Canada for not going far enough to stop fentanyl from crossing into the United States.

Canadian officials have said fentanyl seizures by U.S. agents at the northern border made up less than 0.1% of total U.S. seizures of the drug from 2022 to 2024. 

Paul and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, have publicly said they will vote for the resolution. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also said she is likely to support it. Paul told reporters Tuesday afternoon that a fourth Republican is likely to vote in favor, though he would not say who.

"I think government by emergency rule is a mistake,'' Paul said. "The power to tax they say is the power to destroy. The power to tax is considered one of the most important powers and so it was given to Congress. ... I think it's probably one of the more important votes that we'll have maybe in a generation."

The outcome wouldn't stop Trump from imposing the tax on Canadian goods because the resolution would have to pass the House to be binding. With a slim majority in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson likely wouldn't risk bringing it up for a vote.

Kaine said Tuesday morning the Senate vote would probably be delayed until Wednesday − when Trump plans to unveil his controversial global tariffs − because of the marathon floor speech by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.

Developments:

∎ The Trump administration froze several dozen research grants with Princeton University without a concrete explanation, school president Christopher Eisgruber said in an e-mail to the campus community, the latest instance of the president targeting institutions of higher learning. The federal government has also suspended funding for Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania and put Harvard contracts and grants under review. The administration has accused some schools of not doing enough to combat antisemitism.

∎ Former Costa Rican President and Nobel Prize winner Oscar Arias said the U.S. revoked his visa to enter the country weeks after he said on social media that Trump was acting like "a Roman emperor."

∎ Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said he has begun a process to remove remaining tariffs on U.S. imports, which would need the approval of Economy Minister Nir Barkat.

Trump willing to negotiate on tariffs, White House says

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday that Trump could potentially negotiate lower tariffs with companies or countries if they change policies, but he aims to end trade imbalances that have gone on for decades.

“The ultimate change for these companies and these countries will happen when they decide to do business in the United States,” Leavitt said. “Certainly the president is always up to take a phone call, always up for a good negotiation, but he is very much focused on fixing the wrongs of the past.”

Besides Canada negotiating potentially lower tariffs with the Commerce Department, a number of other countries are calling Trump, Leavitt said.

“If they want to be absolved of that tariff, they can come to the United States of America to do business, bring their jobs here,” she said. In the administration's view, Leavitt said, “Too many foreign countries have their markets closed to our exports.”

Tariffs rates set, will be announced Wednesday

Trump has finalized the tariff rates he will impose Wednesday on imports from countries across the world, Leavitt said. The press secretary declined to say Tuesday whether Trump has landed at 20% tariffs for most imports to the U.S., as the Washington Post reported White House aides have explored.

“The president said last night he has made a decision and a determination (on the rates). I was with him in the Oval Office earlier, and he is going to announce that decision tomorrow,” Leavitt said.

“He is with his trade and tariff team right now perfecting,'' she said.

Leavitt said the tariffs will go into effect immediately, and collections on the duties begins Thursday.

− Joey Garrison

White House: Americans should 'trust' Trump on tariffs

Trump and other administration officials have dismissed the warnings of many economists that tariffs will drive up prices and possibly tumble the nation into recession, arguing the duties will prompt foreign companies to invest in U.S. projects to avoid the import taxes.

Leavitt said the administration is working to reduce the cost of living, pointing to regulation changes at the Environmental Protection Agency and policies to unleash American energy she said would bring down costs.

“You should trust what this president did for you in his first term,” Leavitt said. “He effectively utilized tariffs while driving down inflation.”

Republicans have largely stood by Trump as he implemented the tariffs, though many have said they're worried the economic ramifications will hurt people in their states.

What time is Trump's tariff announcement April 2?

Trump will formally introduce the tariffs at a 4 p.m. event in the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday. It will be his first event in the storied space just outside the Oval Office since he returned to power.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking on Fox News on Monday evening, said the tariffs would be followed by tax breaks Trump promised during his run for office − such as no taxes on tips, overtime or Social Security and a tax deduction for purchasing an American car.

"For the first time in decades ... we are going to make the global trading system fair for American workers," Bessent said.

House speaker defends tariffs: 'Will make sense for Americans'

Johnson told reporters Tuesday morning that Trump's plans to implement massive tariffs on the United States' former trading allies "makes a lot of common sense."

The trade disparities that began after World War II are over, Johnson argued, and there is now a much more integrated global economy.

"The president is absolutely right when he says that we have to think about America's interests first," Johnson said. He later added: "It may be rocky in the beginning, but I think that this will make sense for Americans and it will help all Americans."

Report: Most imports could face 20% tariffs

White House aides have drafted plans for 20% tariffs on most goods imported to the United States, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. White House advisers cautioned that several options remain in play.

Trump said Sunday that reciprocal tariffs will target all nations that impose duties on U.S. goods, and the White House said Monday that any country that has treated Americans unfairly should expect to receive a tariff.

Financial markets may not be soothed by Trump announcement

U.S. stocks closed a choppy session mostly higher Tuesday, a day after March closed with the largest monthly declines in more than two years for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, and a day before the extent of Trump's large-scale tariffs is revealed.

Jason Draho, head of asset allocation Americas at UBS Global Wealth Management, said Wednesday's announcement may not calm the unsettled markets.

"As much as investors might hope for it, this is unlikely to put an end to tariff uncertainty," Draho said. "Uncertainty and market volatility are likely to stay high in the near term as investors recalibrate their outlooks after these events."

Bessent said the tariffs, combined with tax breaks and corporate investment, will push the economy to new heights. “There's been a line through the Oval Office of countries and companies who want to bring capital, jobs and factories to the United States," Bessent said.

Layoffs begin at Health and Human Services

The Trump administration began firing staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and at the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, the beginning of a plan to cut 10,000 jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.

An FDA employee said staff had to present their badges at the building entrance and those who had been fired were given paperwork and told to return home, according to one source. Combined with HHS employees who previously accepted buyouts and others who were already fired, the agency's workforce will be sliced by one-quarter from 82,000 full-time employees to 62,000 since Trump returned to the White House.

The cuts are part of a broader plan by Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk to shrink staffing levels in federal departments and agencies.

Why is Trump calling April 2 'Liberation Day'

Trump has referred to April 2 as "Liberation Day" since he assumed the nation's highest office in January. The president has pledged to enact reciprocal tariffs on major trading partners as well as scores of other nations that contribute to the $1.2 trillion U.S. trade deficit.

Trump's motive is to use tariffs as a way to force other countries to lower their own tariffs on U.S. goods and services, so as to create a more balanced economic playing field for U.S. exports and to create a strong incentive for companies to manufacture goods such as cars inside the U.S. to avoid paying the tax. The administration has already announced 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, on imported automobiles and automobile parts and on goods from Mexico and Canada.

Trump said earlier this month that April 2 "is a liberation day for our country because we’re going to be getting back a lot of the wealth that we so foolishly gave up to other countries."

− James Powell and Todd Spangler

Are any cars actually 100% American?

Trump said he wants to spur more manufacturing in the United States with his new tariff targeting foreign car imports, but defining an American-made car isn’t easy. Online automotive marketplace Cars.com found just over half of new inventory vehicles saw final assembly in the U.S. About 19% were assembled in Mexico, 4.2% in Canada and 1.4% in China, as previously reported by USA TODAY. 

"No cars are actually 100% made in the United States, with parts sourced from the United States,” Edmunds consumer insights analyst Joseph Yoon said. “It’s going to be a big, big deal for the auto industry, globally, if the tariffs are implemented and enforced at face value.”  Read more here.

− Bailey Schulz

Tariffs 101: Who pays for them?

Tariffs are primarily levied on imports, typically to protect industries in the country levying them. Tariffs make imports more expensive, thus making local goods cheaper by comparison. Tariffs also can provide income that can be used to support local industries, fund public programs or cover government expenditures.

And they can serve as bargaining tools to win concessions from trading partners.

"While tariffs may seem to penalize foreign producers by making their goods or services less competitive, the reality is that U.S. consumers and businesses ultimately bear the cost," the Wilson Center scholars Diego Marroquín Bitar and Valeria Moy write in a "Tariffs 101" analysis.

E.J. Antoni, a public finance economist and senior fellow at the conservative Committee to Unleash Prosperity, disagrees, saying in his opinion piece for Fox News earlier this month that economic history shows tariffs are always at least partly paid for by exporters, not just customers."

Contributing: Reuters