Wyden Names Canada Tariffs as First Target of Democrats' Repeal Push, With Trump's Veto Threat Looming

Since the midterms handed Democrats control of both chambers, the question has been which fight they pick first. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on Senate Finance and its expected chairman in January, has now answered: Canada.

"There is overwhelming support for repealing the tariffs on products from Canada," Wyden told The Wall Street Journal. He said he is already talking with colleagues about legislation. "Ultimately, Congress must take away the president's ability to unilaterally and arbitrarily impose tariffs," he added.

Why Canada

Wyden's team says the Canada levies offer the best chance to flip Republicans and possibly build enough support to avert or override a veto. The plan, as described to the Journal, is to attach sweeteners to a repeal bill to win GOP votes and to keep forcing floor votes on the least popular parts of the trade agenda.

There is a record to build on. The Senate voted 51-48 in April 2025 to end the emergency behind Trump's original 25% fentanyl tariffs on Canada, with Collins, McConnell, Murkowski and Paul voting yes. It voted 50-46 to do the same in October 2025. In February, the House passed a similar measure 219-211 as six Republicans broke ranks.

None of those votes came close to two-thirds.

The politics also moved this fall. Tariffs became a campaign issue in border states including Michigan, Maine and Alaska. Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate nominee in Michigan, ran an ad opposing the levies while holding a Labatt beer. "Canada is not our enemy. We need to end this tariff war now," he said. He lost to Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.

The legal ground has shifted

The tariffs in those earlier votes are no longer the ones in force. The Supreme Court struck down the emergency-powers tariffs 6-3 on Feb. 20 in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump. A temporary 10% Section 122 replacement hit its 150-day legal limit and expired on July 24.

What remains rests on Section 232 (national security), Section 301 (unfair trade practices) and Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, according to the Congressional Research Service's October report as summarized by trade analysts. None of them needs a congressional vote to stay in place. Only a new law can end them, and Trump would hold the pen on that law.

The Canada fight now runs through Section 338, which lets a president tariff countries found to have discriminated against the U.S. It underpins the 50% tariffs on certain Canadian goods. Wyden's bill would have to override that authority, not just a single rate.

The veto problem

Trump has been plain. "What happens is I veto everything," he said in October.

Overriding a veto takes 67 senators and 290 House members if every seat is filled and every member votes. The Daily Beast puts Democrats at 253 House seats and 54 Senate seats. Passing a bill in the Senate also takes 60 votes to beat a filibuster.

Not every Democrat is in the repeal camp either. The Logic notes that some Democrats do not oppose tariffs imposed for national security reasons.

Other Democratic leaders have set broader goals. Incoming Speaker candidate Hakeem Jeffries has pledged to "eradicate the Trump tariffs" in the first 100 days. Ways and Means ranking member Richard Neal says he is "committed to reversing Trump's unjustified tariffs." Both pledges face the same math as Wyden's.

The timing

Trump has announced that tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks, auto parts and steel will rise to 50% on Jan. 1, 2027, according to ZeroHedge's reporting. That is two days before the new Congress is sworn in. Daily Beast reports Trump has warned he would double tariffs on Canadian vehicles if a bilateral deal is not finalized.

Whatever Wyden passes will be aimed at tariffs that are already in place and, by then, already being paid.

Who pays now

The cost is already landing on U.S. importers. Gellert Global Group, a family-owned food distributor in Elizabeth, N.J., is suing the administration over the 50% tariffs on certain Canadian cheeses and seeking refunds. CEO Thomas Gellert says the company imports about $80 million worth of Canadian cheese a year, so the bill could reach $40 million.

Gellert told CBC News his customers will not accept price increases, so the company is absorbing the cost for now. "We can't sustain a tariff like this on these products for much longer," he said. He says he sought exemptions in meetings with lawmakers and diplomats, including U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra.

The Gellert suit was filed by the Liberty Justice Center, the same organization that successfully challenged Trump's emergency-powers tariffs before the Supreme Court. The courts, not Congress, have so far been the only branch to knock down a Trump tariff program. Wyden is expected to get the Finance gavel in January.