Newhouse helps House rebuke Trump’s tariffs on Canada, while Baumgartner opposes move despite concerns over import taxes

WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to overturn President Donald Trump’s tariffs on goods from Canada, as a Washington state Republican broke with GOP leaders to help pass the largely symbolic resolution.

Rep. Dan Newhouse of Sunnyside was one of six Republicans who voted for the measure, helping it pass by a vote of 219-211 with just a single Democrat opposed. In an interview Thursday, he said that even if Trump vetoes the bill – as the president is expected to do – it sends “a signal that not everybody’s thrilled with this.”

“It hits at the heart of a lot of what’s impacting the economy back home, and I’m supposed to represent my constituents,” Newhouse said. “And so even if he disagreed with it, I would think the president would understand that.”

Rep. Michael Baumgartner of Spokane has also voiced objections to Trump’s liberal use of tariffs, but the Eastern Washington Republican voted against the resolution on Wednesday. In a statement Thursday, Baumgartner said he still has “concerns about the economic impacts of tariffs” but he voted against the measure after consulting with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

“He asked me to continue to give the president leverage to use tariffs as a national security tool,” Baumgartner said of the Republican leader. “These tariffs help America to stem the flow of fentanyl from the Canadian border, but more generally the president continues to wield tariffs as an effective measure to put pressure on the governments of Russia and Iran.”

In his own statement on Wednesday, Newhouse also invoked the fentanyl crisis but challenged the idea that taxing goods imported from Canada would help solve it.

“The reality is the overwhelming majority of illicit drugs have come through the Southern Border, which thanks to the Trump Administration, is effectively closed,” Newhouse said.

“Washington State’s economy is heavily intertwined with that of our neighbors to the North,” Newhouse, a Yakima Valley farmer, said. “Canada is our state’s second largest export market with billions of dollars in Washington commodities being sold there every year. Our agricultural producers’ input and equipment prices have continued to climb, and Canada’s reciprocal tariffs and actions have harmed our state’s beer, wine, and spirits industry.”

Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Columbia University published on Thursday found that Americans have paid nearly 90% of the import taxes Trump has levied on goods from other countries. Over the course of his first year in office, the average tariff rate on U.S. imports rose from 2.6% to 13%.

In a post on his Truth Social platform just before the final vote, Trump touted the revenue his new taxes have raised and threatened GOP lawmakers who oppose his policy of imposing them on the United States’ allies and adversaries alike.

“Any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time, and that includes Primaries!” Trump wrote, adding that “TARIFFS have given us Great National Security because the mere mention of the word has Countries agreeing to our strongest wishes.”

Newhouse announced in December he won’t seek re-election. The other five Republicans who voted to overturn Trump’s tariff on Canadian goods – Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Don Bacon of Nebraska, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Jeff Hurd of Colorado and Kevin Kiley of California – are either retiring or facing tough re-election prospects.

In his statement, Newhouse said he was equally motivated by his belief that “Congress should not tie its own hands on our Constitutional authority to levy tariffs.” Article I of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress authority over tariffs, but lawmakers have gradually ceded that power to presidents over the years and the GOP leaders who control the House and Senate have handed that power to Trump to an unprecedented degree in his second term.

“While I understand the President’s approach to utilize tariffs as leverage to secure more trade deals, the fact of the matter remains the tariffs on Canada have harmed Washingtonians,” Newhouse said, adding that Congress should “play a strong role” in an upcoming review of the trade agreement struck between the United States, Mexico and Canada during Trump’s first term.

The Supreme Court could rule any day on a challenge to Trump’s sweeping use of tariffs. Baumgartner referred to that case in his statement, saying, “Until the Supreme Court makes a definitive ruling on the constitutionality of the president’s use of tariffs, it will be difficult to get Congress to coalesce around practical legislation.”

“Although the Democrats are clearly using this resolution for political purposes, I’m hopeful that after the Supreme Court decision, we can find a workable bipartisan approach that is good for economy and also our national security,” he said. “Historically, the Democrats have been more protectionist and strong supporters of tariffs. If their knee jerk opposition to everything President Trump does ends up turning more of them in supporters of the free market, all the better.”

The House resolution now moves to the Senate, where a handful of Republicans have twice voted with Democrats to pass similar measures. If the bill passes both chambers, Trump is expected to veto it. Overturning a presidential veto requires two-thirds majorities in both the House and Senate.