On October 29, 2025, the United States Senate voted on Tuesday (October 28) to abolish the tariffs imposed by President Trump on Brazil. However, since the House of Representatives will not consider this resolution, and Trump will not sign the resolution, this vote is purely symbolic.
This marks the third time the Senate Democrats have voted on the resolution to “terminate Trump’s tariff policies”.
Senator Tim Kaine (Democrat) introduced a resolution on Tuesday aiming to end the tariffs imposed on Brazil by the President under the guise of a national emergency, thus terminating the tariffs on Brazil.
Kaine stated that President Trump’s imposition of tariffs on Brazil under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) was inappropriate. He believed that the so-called “emergency” was merely Brazil’s prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro and questioned whether this could constitute a real emergency. He also pointed out the trade surplus that the United States has with Brazil.
However, Trump’s executive order stated that the Brazilian government had recently used coercive means to compel American companies to review political speech, block users, or hand over sensitive American user data, or face fines, criminal prosecution, or exclusion from the market. This not only affected American companies’ operations in Brazil but also undermined US policies promoting free elections and basic human rights, hence the imposition of tariffs on Brazil.
Ultimately, the Senate voted on Tuesday with a result of 52 in favor and 48 against. All Democratic senators voted in support, and there were five Republican senators who voted in favor.
These five Republican senators are Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
McConnell stated before the vote that tariffs would increase the production and purchasing costs in the United States, and the economic losses caused by trade wars are not occasional special cases but are frequent occurrences.
Kaine stated on Tuesday that the Senate will also hold mandatory votes this week on “cancelling Trump’s global tariffs” and the tariffs imposed on Canada.
Out of the three votes in the Senate, two have passed, while one did not.
In April, the Senate passed a resolution to abolish the 25% tariffs Trump imposed on Canada, with the support of Murkowski, Collins, Paul, and McConnell.
Another proposal to terminate Trump’s 10% tariffs on all products did not pass, and McConnell did not participate in that vote.
These resolutions are not expected to be debated in the House of Representatives. House Republicans have amended procedural rules to prevent a forced vote on the President’s tariffs.
(This article references reports from CNN and Axios)