Tariffs: US House votes to stop tariffs against Canada thanks also to Republicans

Six Republican members of the US House of Representatives defied Donald Trump yesterday and voted in favour of abolishing tariffs on Canada, a defeat for the US president who threatened rebel MPs during the vote. The measure was approved with 219 votes in favour and 211 against.

The text must now be approved by the Senate. But even if it were adopted, it would certainly be vetoed by the tenant of the White House, who has made tariffs the cornerstone of his economic policy. Only a new vote in Congress and adoption with a two-thirds majority would allow this veto to be overridden, which is almost impossible given the current Republican majority in both chambers. The resolution therefore has above all symbolic significance.

During the vote, Donald Trump warned that members of his party who vote against tariffs "will suffer the consequences at election time, including primaries." "Any Republican in the House or Senate who votes against tariffs will seriously suffer the consequences at election time, including primaries!" wrote Trump on his TRUTH social account during the vote. "DUTIES have guaranteed us economic and national security, and no Republican should be held accountable for destroying that privilege."

It was worth taking this risk for some Republicans who sided against the president, especially those in districts where the last vote is being fought and where tariffs are deeply unpopular.

Congressman Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, who is retiring at the end of this term and voted in favour of the anti-tariffs resolution, told reporters that the White House tried, unsuccessfully, to overturn his vote. "I voted on principle," Bacon said of Tuesday's procedural vote that allowed the measure to pass. "They were trying to do Nebraska a favour, but I said, what about the other 49 states?"