Klobuchar Delivers Floor Remarks Ahead of Senate Passage of the Bipartisan Canada Tariff Resolution

WASHINGTON - On the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar delivered remarks advocating for bipartisan legislation to overturn President Trump's tariffs on Canada imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEPPA). The legislation was passed with bipartisan support by a 50-46 vote.

A rough transcript from the Senator's floor remarks is below and a video for download is linked here.

"It is one embassy, years ago, when America was disliked by a lot of countries that displayed on their embassy, huge banners that said: friend, ally, partner. For so many of our states, they're our biggest trading partners. They fought alongside us in two world wars. They are our partners in NORAD and in NATO. They worked with us together on the supply chain and getting back working after the pandemic. They are setting new historic goals. Canada is to contribute to our collective defense planning, to triple defense spending over the next decade.

But what does this administration do? Slap them with a 35% tariff, and then just because the president woke up in the morning and didn't like an ad that quoted a beloved Republican President Ronald Reagan. He said, 'well, I'm going to give him 10% more.'

Yet, this is a country with which we share a trade agreement that this President negotiated with Mexico and Canada. If you want to make changes right for dairy or other things, do it in the review of that agreement. Don't do it like this to a neighbor and friend.

Secondly, what do these tariffs mean to America? Mean to the people in our country combined? They've been changed over 100 times total payoffs, inflation is up. Manufacturing jobs are down. Small farm bankruptcies are at their highest level in five years, and every senator in this chamber has heard from their beef producers or heard from their soybean farmers.

What is happening right now is one of my farmers called it a perfect storm of ugly. For an individual family right now, these tariffs mean a $2,000 tax per family. The cost of tools are up. Audio equipment costs more. This is the effect of this tariff policy on individual families in America.

We can have high-minded debates here, but at home, they're looking at their grocery prices. They're looking at their markets, their family farms that they spent a century building, they're the next in line to take it over, and its drying up. That's what these tariffs are about.

Then finally, the president cannot keep abusing his power like this. There is a reason, when you look at the numbers, who supports this resolution - United Steelworkers, International Association of Machinists, North America's Building Trades Unions, AFL-CIO, The Chamber of Commerce , National Taxpayers Union, National Retail Federation have all endorsed this resolution.

But unfortunately, with a few exceptions, our friends on the other side of the aisle are rubber stamping what this president wants. It's time for us to stand up. This vote is about reasserting congress' constitutional role. Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, gives congress, not the president, the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations. We must stand up for American workers, businesses, and consumers, and remind our allies and ourselves that America keeps its word."

A video of her full remarks is available here.

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