Canadian tariffs hit Minnesota hard. Congressional support for them is waning

Christopher Vondracek, Star Tribune on Feb 12, 2026

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WASHINGTON — Tariffs that have driven down Minnesota exports by double-digits are growing increasingly unpopular in Capitol Hill, as evidenced by a vote this week in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives.

In a rare rebuke from the House late on Feb. 11, six Republican members joined all but one of the Democrats to approve a resolution blocking Trump’s Canadian tariff.

While the vote may end up being more symbolic than forceful — even if it gets passed in the Senate, it is not veto-proof — it shows the constituent pressure politicians are getting in an election year about the economy.

Economists say while it’s difficult to exactly measure the overall impacts of 2025 tariffs, in the short run they may have depressed the labor market and raised costs.

Research from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation released this month showed the effects of the tariffs on the average U.S. household was $1,000 last year.

They also have changed markets.

Minnesota, for example, counts Canada as the state’s largest trading partner. In 2024, Minnesota exported $7.5 billion to Canada and imported roughly $14.7 billion in goods, including minerals, fuel, oil, vehicles and machinery.

But data from the Department of Employment and Economic Development last month shows that in the third quarter Minnesota’s exports for farm, mining and manufactured goods were down nearly $1 billion, or 14%, compared to the the same time frame of 2024.

In the second quarter of 2025, exports were down 19% year over year.

In a statement, DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek blamed softer sales of mineral fuel and oil to Canada on tariffs.

Trump has argued the tariffs are leverage to combat drug trafficking across the U.S.’s northern border. He also says tariffs even out trade deficits.

This week’s vote from Minnesota’s delegation in the House fell along party lines, with Republicans opposed to the resolution and Democrats in support.

Rep. Angie Craig, a Democrat who is the ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee and running for the U.S. Senate, said Trump’s “trade war with Canada” has had deleterious effects on family farms.

“Today’s vote was an opportunity to stabilize trade relationships with our Canadian trading partners and to bring down costs for working folks,” Craig said.

Rep. Brad Finstad, a southern Minnesota Republican, whose district includes a large swath of corn and soybean country, as well as hog and dairy farms, opposed the resolution. In a statement, Finstad acknowledged that trading with Canada was “vital” for the ag economy, but said the vote amounted to only “political posturing” by Democrats.

The measure, Finstad said, would have terminated Trump’s “authority to address serious national security concerns, from fentanyl trafficking to illegal immigration” and would’ve weakened border protections.

On Feb. 12, his DFL opponent, Jake Johnson, a Rochester teacher, said disruptions to global trade, particularly Canada and Mexico, have harmed Minnesota farmers, who rely on export markets for profitability.

“The frustration around tariffs is widespread,” Johnson said. “It’s especially felt in the soybean farmers.”

Forces opposed to Trump’s tariffs have been threatening for months to overturn the measures. Last fall, a measure similar to what passed the House on Feb. 11, cleared narrowly out of the U.S. Senate.

That measure was brought, in part, by by Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the highest-ranking Democrat on the agriculture committee who is also running for governor.

“Congress has sent this administration a clear, bipartisan message,” Klobuchar said, in a statement about last night’s vote. “(T)hey cannot continue to abuse their power to wage a trade war against one of our strongest allies.”

The resolution that passed the House will now go to the U.S. Senate. But it would almost certainly face a veto should it reach the Oval Office.

Others tariff critics also continue to wait for a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on a case seeking to overturn Trump’s authority to impose global tariffs. The next earliest date the court will publish opinions will be toward the end of February.

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