WASHINGTON >> The Senate passed a resolution Wednesday night that would thwart President Donald Trump’s ability to impose tariffs on Canada, delivering him a rare rebuke just hours after the president unveiled sweeping plans to clamp down on international trade.

The Senate resolution, passed by a 51-48 vote tally, would end Trump’s emergency declaration on fentanyl that underpins tariffs on Canada.

The Senate’s legislation ultimately has little chance of passing the Republican-controlled House and being signed by Trump, but it showed the limits of Republican support for Trump’s vision of remaking the U.S. economy by restricting free trade.

Trump earlier Wednesday singled out the four Republicans — Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Rand Paul of Kentucky — who voted in favor of the resolution.

In a statement following the vote, McConnell, the former Senate Republican leader, said, “As I have always warned, tariffs are bad policy, and trade wars with our partners hurt working people most.”

To justify the tariffs, Trump has argued that Canada is not doing enough to stop illegal drugs from entering the northern border. Customs and Border Protection seized 43 pounds of fentanyl in its northern border sector during the 2024 fiscal year, and since January, authorities have seized less than 1.5 pounds, according to federal data. Meanwhile, at the southern border, authorities seized over 21,000 pounds last year.

“This is not about fentanyl. It’s about tariffs. It’s about a national sales tax on American families,” Sen. Tim Kaine, the Virginia Democrat who initiated the resolution, said at a news conference Wednesday.

For their part, Republican leaders tried to hold their members in line against the tariff resolution by emphasizing that Trump was acting to address fentanyl trafficking and border security.

Majority Whip Sen. John Barrasso argued in a floor speech that former President Joe Biden had “also thrown open the northern border. The criminal cartels noticed and they took advantage.”

“There are unique threats to the United States at our northern border,” the Wyoming senator said. “President Trump is taking the bold, decisive, swift action that is necessary to secure that border as well.”

North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer said that he has been in constant talks with both Canadian officials and businesses in his state like Bobcat, which does a significant amount of its sales in Canada. He didn’t support the resolution. Instead, he hoped that Trump’s Wednesday announcement would just be a starting point for negotiations for the mutual dropping of tariffs.