The U.S. Senate voted Tuesday to overturn President Donald Trump’s 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian imports. The resolution passed 52-48, with five Republican senators (Rand Paul of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky) joining all Democrats in support of the measure.

​The legislation, sponsored by Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and co-sponsored by Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), seeks to terminate the national emergency declaration Trump issued on July 30 that authorized the steep tariffs on Brazilian goods including coffee, oil, and orange juice.

Senator Paul argued during Senate debate that the tariffs represent an abuse of emergency powers. “Emergencies are like war, famine and tornadoes. Not liking someone’s tariffs is not an emergency. It’s an abuse of the emergency power and it’s Congress abdicating their traditional role in taxes,” Paul said.

Trump imposed the tariffs using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), citing Brazil’s prosecution of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro as justification for declaring a national emergency. In his executive order, Trump claimed that “the scope and gravity of the recent policies, practices, and actions of the Government of Brazil constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security, foreign policy, and economy.​

Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, was convicted in September of attempting a coup after losing Brazil’s 2022 election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He received a 27-year prison sentence.​

Senator Kaine questioned the rationale for invoking emergency powers, asking, “The so-called emergency concerning Brazil, the unusual and extreme situation that poses a threat to the United States, which originates partially or entirely outside our borders, is the Brazilian decision to prosecute a friend of Donald Trump. How is that an emergency?”

According to the United States Trade Representative, U.S. goods and services trade with Brazil totaled an estimated $127.6 billion in 2024, with the United States maintaining a combined trade surplus of $29.9 billion—including a $6.8 billion goods trade surplus and a $23.1 billion services trade surplus.​​

Despite Senate passage, the resolution faces steep hurdles in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has implemented procedural rules that effectively block a vote on the president’s tariffs until March 2026.​

In March, House Republicans passed a resolution that blocked “the most direct pathway for lawmakers to revoke the emergency executive powers” Trump used to levy tariffs by deeming the remainder of the year as a single day “for purposes of section 202 of the National Emergencies Act.” In September, House Republicans again voted to extend this block until March 31, 2026, in a narrow 213-211 vote.​

Even if the resolution cleared both chambers of Congress, Trump would almost certainly veto it.

The vote comes as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments next week regarding whether Trump overstepped his authority by using emergency powers to impose tariffs on nearly every country in the world.