Republican senators fightback, passed bill to terminate Trump's tariff on Brazil
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Republican senators fightback, passed bill to terminate Trump's tariff on Brazil")
US President Donald Trump attends a high honor presentation ceremony with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the Gyeongju National Museum in Gyeongju on October 29, 2025 Photograph: (AFP)
The US Senate passed a bipartisan resolution to end Trump’s trade war with Brazil, but it’s unlikely to survive in the Republican-controlled House.
As the US government shutdown completes 4th week, on October 28, 2025, the US Senate approved a measure that could rescind Trump's trade war against Brazil. The resolution led by Democrat Senator of Virginia Tim Kaine was passed in a 52-48 vote. With five Republican senators: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and the former Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky joining Democrats in the resolution.
The resolution challenges Trump's declaration of national emergency, which allowed him to enter into a trade war against various nations. He accused Brazil was threatening U.S. national security and politically persecuting Bolsonaro. The former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 months of prison for attempting a violent coup and assassination of Lula, his vice president Geraldo Alckmin, and Alexandre de Moraes and a Supreme Court judge. This prison sentence irked Donald Trump, who imposed sweeping tariffs on Brazilian imports, including coffee, beef and other products, as well as sanctioned the Brazilian Supreme Court justice overseeing Bolsonaro's case.
Is there a Republican dissent?
Republican senators like McConnell said that tariffs are measures that do not serve the interests of the common Americans by raising the cost of living. “Tariffs make both building and buying in America more expensive. The economic harms of trade wars are not the exception to history, but the rule,” said Mitch McConnell.
Republican Senator Rand Paul argued that using a national emergency to justify a trade dispute is an abuse of power. Other senators also pointed out the existing $7 billion trade surplus with Brazil. The tariffs are like a reaction to the Brazilian politics and imprisonment of a political ally of Trump.
Though most of the Republicans are in support of Trump's policies, US Vice President JD Vance called the administration's trade policy “very successful”.
Trending Stories
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
What is the expected outcome of the resolution?
Eventhough the resolution was a bipartisan fightback against the aggressive protectionism of the Trump administration. However, the resolution is likely to fail in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, as has been the case with other resolutions intended to block the Trump administration's tariffs. Even if Congress passes it and the resolution reaches Trump's desk, he would just veto it.
