Alaska’s two U.S. senators split on a vote against President Donald Trump’s economic tariffs against Canada.
The U.S. Senate voted 51-48 to approve a resolution April 2 that would end the presidentially declared emergency that allowed Trump to impose tariffs on Canada.
The vote was largely symbolic because the resolution has almost no chance of passing the U.S. House, where the Speaker of the House has already taken action to prevent the proclaimed emergency from ending.
Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski joined Senate Democrats and three other Republicans in voting to end the presidential emergency. The other Republicans were Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Rand Paul of Kentucky. Paul co-sponsored the resolution.
Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan joined all other Republicans in voting to oppose the resolution and support Trump’s decision.
Murkowski’s vote had been expected; in the days preceding the vote, Trump issued a statement asking her and other Republicans to “get on the Republican bandwagon, for a change.”
After her vote, Murkowski explained her reasoning in a statement on social media.
“While not all Canadian trade practices are fair, I’m keenly aware of the negative impacts in store for Alaska families and businesses should tariffs drive up the costs of essential goods,” she wrote.
“In Alaska, this relationship matters. We share more than 1,538 miles of border with Canada – some of our communities share schools and churches. Our best-known road is the Alcan (Alaska-Canada) Highway. We are friends, neighbors, partners, and allies when it comes to our economies, our mutual defense, our cultures, and, yes, our trade.”
In enacting the tariffs, Trump cited the flow of illegal drugs from Canada to the United States. Statistics published by the Canadian and U.S. governments show 0.2% of the illegal fentanyl sold in the United States comes from Canada. More fentanyl flows from the U.S. to Canada than vice versa.
“Like any relationship, there are certainly areas for improvement. I support the President’s efforts to block the flow of fentanyl in our country, but we should remember the old saying that the U.S. and Canada are ‘neighbors by geography, and friends by choice.’ In that same spirit, I’m certain we can find a better way to mutually secure our borders and address fentanyl trafficking than by starting a trade war,” Murkowski wrote.
Sullivan’s office, in a statement released after his vote, said, “For the last two years in a row, Alaska has experienced the largest increase in drug overdose death rates of any state in the country. Senator Sullivan believes we need to do everything we can to stop the poisoning of Alaskans and Americans, including using tariffs as leverage to get Canada, Mexico and China to put more resources into stopping this deadly drug from coming into our country.”
The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization. Alaskabeacon.com.
Reader Comments(0)