Canadian, American unions urging U.S. senators to vote to overturn Trump’s tariffs

By Canadian Press on March 31, 2025.

OTTAWA — Unions on both sides of the border are calling on American senators to vote in favour of legislation to overturn U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods.

The U.S. Senate is expected to vote Tuesday on a joint resolution led by Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine that would terminate the national emergency Trump declared in order to justify 25 per cent tariffs on most imports from Canada.

In separate letters to U.S. senators, the Canadian Labour Congress and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations are calling for the tariff measures to be terminated to avoid “unnecessary economic pain” for workers and businesses on both sides of the border.

The American union’s letter says that while the national emergency declaration attempts to justify tariffs by alleging that Canada is not doing enough to halt the illicit flow of fentanyl, “Canada is not the problem.”

The Canadian Labour Congress’s letter says that nearly eight million U.S. jobs are tied to trade with Canada and that American tariffs will create “additional upward pressure” on consumer prices.

Earlier this month, Trump hit Canada and Mexico with 25 per cent across-the-board duties, with a lower 10 per cent levy on Canadian energy, only to later partially pause the tariffs until April 2.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2025.

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press