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(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump barely repelled a challenge to his global tariff offensive in the Republican-controlled US Senate as the president’s trade policy stokes public fears of inflation and recession.
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The Senate tied 49-49 in a Wednesday vote on a resolution to end the barrage of import taxes the president announced earlier this month on China and most other US trading partners. Under Senate rules, the measure failed because of the tie.
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Two critics of Trump’s tariff war were absent, Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
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Three Republican senators crossed party lines to join all Democrats in supporting the resolution
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The resolution’s impact would have been primarily symbolic since Trump had vowed to veto it anyway.
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Polls show a majority of Americans already oppose Trump’s tariffs, with 55% calling them bad policy in a CNN poll taken in mid-April. Consumer sentiment is plunging and fears of recession and inflation are rising. A 59% majority said Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions, up from 51% in March and on par with the poorest readings Joe Biden saw during his presidency.
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The Senate resolution would drastically lower Trump’s 145% tariff on China and end the duties against other nations he announced on April 2, which he dubbed “Liberation Day.” The resolution doesn’t cover tariffs Trump announced in February against China, Canada and Mexico, citing fentanyl trafficking.
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The April tariff announcement unleashed turmoil in financial markets and the president backtracked, saying he would delay the full tariffs for 90 days while he allows negotiations to take place. In the interim, imports from most countries face a baseline tariff of 10%, though the full tariff continues on Chinese goods.
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The Senate earlier this month passed a resolution to eliminate tariffs Trump announced in February against Canada, though the president also said he would veto that measure if it reaches his desk.
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McConnell and Whitehouse supported that resolution, as did the three Republican senators who voted on Wednesday to end the global tariffs: Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
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US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer went to the Capitol a day ahead of the vote to rally support for Trump’s trade offensive at a luncheon with Republican senators. Greer emphasized the president’s efforts to use higher tariffs as leverage to forge new trade deals with other nations but was light on specific details on how the negotiations are progressing, according to senators who attended.
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