Voyageur 39
News for residents of the “11th province”: Canadians abroad.
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U.S. House Votes to End Trump's Tariffs on Canada
The Republican-led House voted on Wednesday to terminate Trump's tariffs on Canada, with six GOP lawmakers crossing the aisle to join Democrats. The measure passed 219-211.
The joint resolution, led by Rep. Gregory Meeks, now heads to the Senate. It won't change much in practice - Speaker Mike Johnson called it "a fruitless exercise" since Trump can veto it and there's no two-thirds majority to override. But as a signal, it matters. Six Republicans risked political retribution (Trump posted that any GOP member who votes against tariffs "will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time") to say publicly that the tariffs on Canada have gone too far.
Two of the Republican defectors - Don Bacon and Dan Newhouse - aren't running again, which makes the math easier. But Colorado's Jeff Hurd put his reasoning on the record, arguing that normalizing emergency trade powers today means a future president of either party will use the same authority "in ways many of us would strongly oppose." It's a constitutional argument, not a trade one - and it might be the more durable threat to Trump's tariff strategy.
Read more: NBC News
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The Billionaire Behind Trump's Gordie Howe Bridge Threats
Remember when Trump threatened to block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge (Voyageur 37)? Turns out there might be a straightforward explanation for that one.
The New York Times reported that Trump's social media broadside came hours after Matthew Moroun - the billionaire who owns the competing Ambassador Bridge - met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington. Lutnick then spoke to the president by phone. The Moroun family has spent years and millions of dollars fighting the Gordie Howe bridge, which will end their monopoly on commercial truck toll revenue between Michigan and Ontario.
The family's lobbying firm of choice is Ballard Partners, one of the best-connected shops in Trump's Washington. A former Ballard partner is Susie Wiles, Trump's chief of staff. During Trump's first term, the Ambassador Bridge company paid Ballard at least $2.5 million US to lobby on "issues related to construction and operation of international bridges." Canada paid more than $6 billion to build the Gordie Howe. The idea that one well-connected family might convince a president to block it from opening is the kind of story that would seem far-fetched if it weren't so well-documented.
Read more: CBC News