Republican Discontent With Trump Tariffs Grows

Topline

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., denounced tariffs as “bad policy” and “a tax on everyday working Americans,” becoming the latest Republican to break with President Donald Trump’s trade policies a day after he introduced a sweeping tariff package that sent stocks nosediving and threatened to drive up prices for a long list of consumer goods.

President Donald Trump signs an executive order after delivering remarks on reciprocal tariffs … More during an event in the Rose Garden entitled “Make America Wealthy Again” at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

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Key Facts

McConnell released a statement Thursday rebuking tariffs generally, writing on X “with so much at stake globally, the last thing we need is to pick fights with the very friends with whom we should be working with to protect against China’s predatory and unfair trade practices.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, along with Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., also introduced legislation Thursday that would require Trump to notify Congress before enacting new tariffs and mandate congressional approval of the new policy within 60 days of it being announced, or it would expire.

The bill is unlikely to be taken up in the GOP-controlled House and become law, but it would be the latest sign of growing Republican discontent with Trump’s tariff policies if it clears the Senate, where it needs support from at least four Republicans to pass.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., indicated he and other Republicans would back Grassley’s bill, telling reporters Thursday “I think there’s something to be said for having congressional review,” after expressing concerns in an interview with CNN on Wednesday about how the tariffs could impact farmers, whom he said are “one crop away from bankruptcy.”

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., also told CNN “in the long run, we’re all dead. Short run matters too. Nobody knows what the impact of these tariffs is going to be on the economy.”

A day earlier, four Republican senators—including McConnell—voted alongside all Democrats to revoke new tariffs on Canada, though the bill has slim odds of passing the GOP-controlled House.

What To Watch For

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told Politico on Thursday he will introduce a new “motion of disapproval” aimed at the 10% baseline tariffs Trump imposed Wednesday on U.S. trading partners. Kaine, who sponsored the Senate bill targeting the tariffs against Canada, said he could raise the motion as soon as Thursday.

Key Background

Trump announced individual tariffs against U.S. trading partners—with some exceeding 50%—in a highly anticipated address Wednesday, which he coined “Liberation Day,” prompting a stock market spiral and new recession fears. The rates include an additional 34% tax on Chinese imports to the U.S. on top of the 20% already charged, a 46% tax for Vietnam, 32% for Taiwan and 24% for Japan. Stocks sank the morning after the announcement, with the Down Jones Industrial Average falling 3.8%, the S&P 500 down 4.4% and the Nasdaq dipping 5.7%. The U.S.’ largest bank, JPMorgan Chase, warned the policies “take the economy perilously close to slipping into recession.” Trump, meanwhile, doubled down on his tariffs Thursday, writing on Truth Social that the U.S. “WILL BE FAR STRONGER, BIGGER, BETTER, AND MORE RESILIENT THAN EVER BEFORE” as a result.