October 29,2025

Wyden Urges Passage of Bipartisan Legislation to Undo Trump's Canada Tariffs

Watch a video of Wyden deliver his remarks here

As Prepared for Delivery

I rise to support my colleague Senator Kaine’s joint resolution to terminate Donald Trump’s blanket tariffs on products Americans buy from Canada.

Once again, this body has the opportunity to cancel a Trump Trade Tax and put money back in American families’ pockets. Oregonians have told me over and over again that bringing down costs is their number one priority. This is a chance for senators to show our constituents that we will act for them, not the special interests or the president’s obsessions. Unlike many of the nations that Trump has slapped with trade taxes, there is already a comprehensive trade deal between the United States and Canada: the USMCA. In fact, that trade deal was negotiated by Donald Trump himself, and passed on a broad, bipartisan vote. Congress approved the deal, put it in blackletter law, and made sure it had enforcement teeth to make sure the U.S. could hold Canada and Mexico to their commitments. That’s the only way to ensure that American farmers, workers, and businesses get the full benefit of the agreement.

But Trump’s trade taxes aren’t addressing trade enforcement issues with Mexico and Canada or making USMCA work better. Instead, he’s unilaterally undermining North American supply chains across the board. Trump has imposed new tariffs on scores of products Americans buy from Canada, making groceries, housing, energy and cars more expensive. He’s slapped a 50 percent tariff on steel and aluminum. Beer, appliances, auto parts are all getting hammered by that tax.

There are 8 million American jobs that depend on trade with Canada. Canada is the biggest export market for 32 American states. Trump’s trade war is destroying jobs and making Americans poorer.

And since national security was one of the rationales for the Trump trade taxes on Canada, I must point out that his trade war against our close ally is making Americans less safe. For one, Canada is a reliable source of energy, raw materials, and critical minerals that China has repeatedly used as a bargaining chip in trade talks. Critical minerals are essential to manufacturing in the high-tech and defense industries.

Donald Trump’s own administration has invested millions in developing the Canadian critical minerals industry, as an alternative to China’s near monopoly. But instead of developing Canada as an alternative to China for raw materials, Donald Trump is driving our closest ally straight into China’s arms. The Canadian prime minister said last week that his country is looking to “re-engage” with India and China to find new markets and new allies that are more reliable than the United States.

America would get better results on trade by buying spells from an Etsy witch.

Trump’s stated reason for blowing up commerce between our two nations is fentanyl trafficking. Colleagues, I take a backseat to no one when it comes to cracking down on the scourge of fentanyl. Oregon is no stranger to the devastating effects it has wreaked on our communities. But reality is, there is no crisis at the Northern Border. Less than 0.2% of fentanyl entering the United States comes from Canada.

Some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have voiced concerns about tariffs, but said they want to give Donald Trump more time to strike a deal. I would ask, what in the past six months makes you think this is going to get better? Instead of negotiating, Trump is spending his energy throwing tantrums about TV ads that accurately quote Ronald Reagan’s position on tariffs. He’s already increased these tariffs on Canada once. He’s now threatening to jack up the Canada tariffs by another 10 percent because one of their provinces took out that Reagan ad. Who would make a deal with a person who throws fits like this, who ignores a deal they made just a few years ago, and who constantly threatens to annex their country, as Trump has done with Canada?

These tariffs are doing nothing to help Americans. They are unrelated to any trade dispute. I urge every Senator to vote to repeal the taxes on Canadian goods and help lower costs for our constituents.

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