'Not much I can do': GOP senator gives up fight against Trump's tariffs

WASHINGTON — A senior Republican senator confessed he's powerless to fight President Donald Trump's trade war, so he's moved on to other issues.

Speaking to Raw Story on Tuesday, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said he's concerned.

"Look, the Canadians are nice people, they're great people. They're friends. They're allies. I hate to see this," he said.

When asked if he thinks things have to get worse before they get better, Johnson said he didn't know.

"I'm not quite sure what the president's goal is here," said Johnson. "He hasn't revealed that to me.

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Instead, Johnson is turning to something he can control: "Spending, spending, spending."

"There's not much I can do about this," he said of the tariffs, "except express concern, which I do. And he knows my thoughts on this."

He noted he'd continue to voice those concerns.

Trump has gone back and forth with Canada for the past several weeks as a kind of tariff "hokey pokey," when he puts tariffs in, then pulls them out, then puts them back in again.

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) said that reporters have been asking him about the matter "for weeks" and "there's a lot at stake."

He noted that Kansas companies, "particularly agriculture, need steel and aluminum and we need to have our issues that created — caused the administration to put tariffs in place to get resolved."

Trump has claimed that the flow of fentanyl on the Canadian border is significant enough to warrant the trade war. However, Canada has said they're only responsible for a tiny fraction of the fentanyl that enters the United States.

"While less than 1% of the fentanyl intercepted at the U.S. border comes from Canada, we have worked relentlessly to address this scourge," outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement. Thus far, Canada has allocated $1.3 billion in border security measures.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) said stocks "are a little over-priced" and that's why the market has fallen in the past few days.

"I don't know when it will happen, but probably in the next couple of weeks it will start back up going north again. I'm all behind President Trump for what he's doing," Tuberville said. "It's our only chance to get people to pay fares with all these tariffs. So, let's get it done. Now's the time to do it."

Raw Story asked about Trump's decision to increase aluminum and steel tariffs in retaliation for Canadian Premier Doug Ford's surcharge on energy entering the U.S. As of Tuesday afternoon, Ford announced he would suspend the surcharge for energy.

"Welp, that's up to them much more than it's up to us," said Tuberville.

The Congressional Research Service penned a report last month stating that "the Constitution grants Congress the power to regulate foreign commerce, impose tariffs, and collect revenue." However, the report acknowledges that Congress has allowed the president to have some authority over tariffs "within certain limits."