Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Getty Images
Donald Trump’s growing global trade war expanded even further Wednesday as his administration officially instituted sweeping “reciprocal tariffs” against the United States’ international trade partners. The new taxes ranged from 20 percent on the European Union and 32 percent on Taiwan to a staggering 104 percent tariff levied against China, whose leaders immediately retaliated with an 84 percent tax on American goods. Then, abruptly, Trump announced that he was instituting a 90-day pause on all of those tariffs, except for those on China — which are actually going up to 125 percent.
Before the pause, Trump was experiencing a rare thing: mild pushback on policy from the Republican Party, even among some of his most stalwart supporters.
During a Fox News roundtable with several of his Republican Senate colleagues on Tuesday, Texas senator Ted Cruz urged Trump to come to a deal with other nations to lower tariffs on both sides, arguing that it was the ideal outcome for the American people. “I do want to give a word of warning: There are voices in the administration that rather than take a deal are saying, ‘we want to have tariffs as a long-term, permanent feature of the economy.’ I think that’d be a mistake,” Cruz said.
He continued, “If a year from now, our trading partners have all jacked up tariffs on America and we have high tariffs on everyone, I think that’ll hurt this country.”
North Carolina senator Thom Tillis, who is considered one of the party’s most vulnerable incumbents, used far more colorful language to express his concerns about the country’s tariff policy during a hearing with U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer. “Whose throat do I get to choke if this proves to be wrong?” he asked. Tillis continued, “It just seems like we’ve decided to begin a trade war on all fronts — and that’s okay, if the person who thought this through has an answer for why you go after partners that we have a very long, storied relationship with.”
But in a floor speech later that day, Tillis suggested the media had been “lazy” in its reporting of his comments to Greer. “I support what’s going on right now with trade,” he said, per Semafor.
“The whole debate is so fundamentally backwards and upside down,” GOP senator Rand Paul said in a CNBC interview. “It’s based on a fallacy, and the fallacy is this: That somehow in a trade someone must lose. That somehow, when you trade with someone, there’s a loser and someone’s taking advantage of you and China is ripping you off or Japan is ripping you off. It’s absolutely a fallacy. Every trade that occurs in the marketplace is mutually beneficial.”
Some Republicans are considering their legislative options to act as a check on Trump’s trade decisions. Last week, Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat, joined with Republican senator Chuck Grassley to introduce the Trade Review Act of 2025, which would curb the president’s powers to implement tariffs and allow Congress more of a say on such policies. As part of the legislation, Congress would have to be notified within 48 hours of any new tariffs or changes to existing ones. Lawmakers would also be required to pass a resolution approving the tariff within 60 days and have the ability to end any tariffs through a similar mechanism.
In addition to Grassley, the bipartisan bill already has support from seven Republicans in the chamber, including Tillis, former Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, Indiana senator Todd Young, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Maine senator Susan Collins, and Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas. Axios reports that at least a dozen House Republicans are considering supporting a similar bill proposed by Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska.
This is not the first piece of legislation aimed at rolling back Trump’s tariffs. Senator Paul and Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon put forward a resolution on Tuesday that would repeal the president’s tariffs by eliminating the emergency declaration used by Trump to put the taxes in place.
However, the lawmakers in favor will likely face an uphill battle. House Speaker Mike Johnson has yet to waver in his support for Trump’s trade policies and said recently that the House will give Trump “space” to see his efforts through. In the Senate, any legislation would require 60 votes for passage in the Republican-led chamber.
And there might be an even bigger short-term obstacle. Punchbowl News reported Wednesday that House Republicans plan to use the budget resolution rule to block the filing of any disapproval resolutions through September.
Trump responded to the growing opposition to his tariffs during his remarks at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner, mocking the members of his party looking to rein in his powers. “These countries are calling me up, kissing my ass,” he said. “And then I’ll see some rebel Republican, some guy that wants to grandstand and say, ‘I think that Congress should takeover negotiations.’ Let me tell you, you don’t negotiate like I negotiate.”
