WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Republican-led U.S. Senate passed legislation on Tuesday that would overturn President Donald Trump’s tariffs against Brazil by terminating the national emergency he declared in July in retaliation for Brazil’s prosecution of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, for an alleged coup attempt.
In the first of three tariff bills expected in the Senate this week, lawmakers approved the Brazil measure 52-48, with five Republicans crossing partisan lines to back the measure.
Legislative measures to terminate Trump’s tariffs on Canada and his tariffs against other countries around the globe are expected to come up for votes later this week.
The vote sent the Brazil measure on to the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives, where it is expected to be shelved. House Republicans have repeatedly voted to block action on legislation to end Trump’s tariffs.
The Senate action came while Trump is on a five-day trip to Malaysia, Japan and South Korea and is scheduled to meet with China’s Xi Jinping for trade talks on Thursday.
Senate Democrats, who contend that Trump has used bogus emergency declarations to justify some of his tariffs, have pledged to force repeated votes to undo the trade actions as prices on affected goods and commodities rise, hurting American consumers.
In April, the Senate passed legislation to end Trump’s tariffs against Canada but rejected another measure to rein in his global tariffs. Neither went anywhere in the House.
Brazilian officials have cited a $410 billion U.S. trade surplus with Brazil over 15 years. But Trump’s executive order accused the South American country of threatening U.S. national security, foreign policy and the U.S. economy, as well as “politically persecuting” Bolsonaro.
(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Nia Williams and Sonali Paul)
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