On 9 April, US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause for countries hit by higher US tariffs.
In a dramatic change of policy, just hours after the levies against some 60 US trading partners began to take effect, Trump said he was allowing a universal "reduced reciprocal tariff of 10 %" as negotiations continue, adding that the withdrawal of the tariffs was due to people being "yippy and scared" because of the stock market downturn.
The market plunge has unnerved Trump's staunch allies on Wall Street, Silicon Valley billionaires like Elon Musk, Republicans in Congress and even die-hard MAGA fans.
Republican efforts to stop Trump's tariffs.
Trump's tariff policy has already drawn criticism from several Republican members of Congress.
Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz said in an interview with Fox News that tariffs are essentially a tax on consumers and he does not support significant tax increases on American consumers.
In his podcast, Cruz said that if the government could use this policy as leverage to quickly get other countries to lower tariffs, it would be a win. However, if applied long-term, it could increase inflation, hurt job growth and even potentially lead to a recession in the U.S. economy.
Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky also criticised Trump in his recent speech in the Senate and disagreed with the justification of tariffs under the pretext of a "national emergency" caused by the trade deficit.
In early April, four Republican US senators voted with Democrats in an effort to block Trump's tariffs on Canada. In a rare show of opposition to Trump, Lisa Murkowski, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul and Susan Collins helped vote 51 to 48 to pass a resolution to end Trump's tariffs on Canadian imports.
U.S. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley and Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell have introduced a bill that would require Congress to sign off on new tariffs within 60 days of their implementation or automatically block their enforcement, which has won the support of seven Republican senators.
However, the White House has expressed its strong opposition to the bill, saying Trump should veto it.
Meanwhile, Trump's tariff policy has sparked discontent among the pro-MAGA base.
Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro said on his podcast that the idea that tariffs are good and make Americans rich is "really problematic."
"This is untrue. The idea that this will lead to a massive re-shoring of production is also false," he said.
Top blogger Joe Rogan, who endorsed Trump in the 2024 election, said Trump's dispute with Canada is "stupid."
In a recent interview with The Hill, former US Vice President Mike Pence said the Trump administration's aggressive use of tariffs "poses a potential risk" to Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.
Cruz also warned that his fellow Republicans risk a "bloodbath" in the midterm elections if Trump's tariffs cause a recession.
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