How will Democrats try to end President Trump’s tariffs?

The battle for Congress is over. The war over President Donald Trump’s tariffs is about to intensify.

The tangled web of tariffs President Trump has weaved over the past two years may soon face its biggest threat yet, as Democrats prepare to throw new legislative muscle at the Republican president’s signature policies.

Democrats have made no secret of their plans to attack Trump and his associates with investigations once the next Congress is sworn in. Democrats are also preparing for their first 100-hour Congressional blitz, introducing a series of bills that roll back much of Trump’s agenda.

Both attacks were aimed at President Trump’s unprecedented tariffs, which Democrats quickly identified as a primary target following Tuesday’s landslide victory in midterm elections.

Ending President Trump’s tariff program, especially the trade war with Canada, is something Democrats “absolutely have to do immediately,” Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed, D-Mich., said Thursday on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe.”

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic minority leader who could be elected speaker of the House in the next Congress, has made it clear that repealing President Trump’s tariffs is a top priority.

“President Trump’s tariffs are making life more expensive for Americans, so we should restore Congress’s tariff-related authority,” he said at a press conference in late August.

If elected Speaker, Mr. Jeffries would move quickly to pass legislation that reaffirms Congress’ authority over trade.

Democrats are also laying the groundwork for an investigation into President Trump’s tariffs. The party included the tariffs in its winning campaign message, linking high costs to Trumpworld corruption allegations.

On October 28, Rep. Jamie Raskin (Maryland), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, called on President Trump to turn over records related to tariff exemptions. Mr. Raskin argued that Mr. Trump used his immunity power to end “sweetheart deals” to industries whose leaders begged the president for gifts.

The plan could add to the legal and political pressure President Trump’s tariffs already faced.

The administration is already embroiled in multiple lawsuits challenging various parts of the government’s tariff policies.

The latest lawsuit, filed on Oct. 20, targets President Trump’s use of a Great Depression-era law to impose 50% tariffs on a wide range of Canadian products.

A separate lawsuit accuses President Trump of trying to recreate the near-universal “Emancipation Day” tariffs that the Supreme Court ruled illegal in late February. The administration was subsequently ordered to return $166 billion in customs revenue collected under the repealed policy.

Under the U.S. Constitution, the power to levy taxes rests with Congress, not the president. For decades, the legislature has ceded some of those powers to the executive branch. But President Trump has asserted virtually unlimited tariff authority, and Democrats say they intend to take it back.

“Every day, Mr. Trump insists on indiscriminate taxes on so many products that Americans need, and he’s digging an even deeper hole so Republicans can impose tariffs,” said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, whose Democrat is taking over the Senate Finance Committee.

“If Democrats somehow get a veto-proof majority, or if voters can shame Republicans into doing the right thing, there will be no shortage of trade policies to tackle,” Wyden said in a statement to CNBC before Election Day.

“One of our most obvious priorities will be to eliminate President Trump’s tariffs on Canada, which are raising prices and harming communities on both sides of the border,” he said. “We will also continue to work to ensure that Congress has final say on tariffs so that future presidents do not repeat President Trump’s economically devastating trade taxes.”

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing Wyden, that Democrats are eyeing the Canada trade war as a “first target” in efforts to oppose his tariff policies.

As Wyden’s statement suggested, Senate rules will hamper Democrats’ anti-tariff efforts.

Despite Tuesday night’s big victory, the party still lacks a 60-vote filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, giving Republicans a key lever to block legislation even in weakened states.

President Trump is also poised to rely heavily on his veto pen in the next Congress, posing a major obstacle to Democratic legislative priorities.

Overriding a presidential veto requires a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress, so even if Democrats achieve a historic election victory, they will need significant support from Republicans to pass the bill over President Trump’s opposition.

Democrats may think it’s worth passing the bill even if President Trump vetoes it. Doing so could help shape the political narrative for the 2028 election cycle. However, other options may be available.

Kit Johnson, senior tax manager in BDO’s customs and international trade group, told CNBC in an email that “absent the brute force of a non-veto coalition, Congress may consider other political solutions, such as adding a rider to a ‘must-pass’ bill or negotiating with the administration.”

President Trump has said he intends to use his veto to force Democrats to the negotiating table. But when it comes to tariffs, it’s hard to imagine what kind of deal President Trump would accept.

President Trump is trying to reshape U.S. trade, foreign and economic policy around his claimed authority to impose steep tariffs on imports. He said tariffs are a win-win, praising them as both a powerful negotiating tool and a major source of revenue.

After Tuesday’s election, President Trump appeared to suggest tariffs were non-negotiable.

“If I eliminated the tariffs, there are 3,000 power plants currently under construction. Every one of them would stop construction,” President Trump told CNBC’s Eamon Javers in a phone call Wednesday.

Since taking office in January 2025, President Trump has raised tariffs on nearly every country on the planet and prolonged multiple trade wars, particularly against Canada and China. He argues that Americans do not share in the burden of tariffs, even though by definition they are taxes on foreign goods paid by the importer. The nonprofit Tax Foundation estimates that President Trump’s tariffs increased the average U.S. household’s tax burden by $820 in 2026.

President Trump has also consistently exaggerated the amount of revenue the government accumulates through tariffs. Before Election Day, he argued that if Republicans win both houses of Congress, the tariffs could provide $5,000 “dividend” checks to every American adult, a plan he said would cost roughly $1.2 trillion. However, according to Penn Wharton’s budget model, tariffs collected from U.S. importers will only bring in about $300 billion in total from January 2025 to July 2026.

Additionally, about $138 billion of that money has been refunded since the Supreme Court’s ruling in February. Approximately $20 billion in customs duties will still be refunded.

Most voters do not share Trump’s optimism on tariffs. In a Nov. 3 CNBC voter poll, 65% of respondents said the tariffs had a negative impact on the U.S. economy, but only 22% said they helped.

What remains to be seen is how strongly Republicans in Congress will push back against Democratic efforts.

Many Republicans came out against the tariffs during the campaign, as opponents gained ground by blaming President Trump’s tariffs and the war on Iran for inflation.

As they try to rally and look ahead to the 2028 election cycle, some Republicans who primarily supported free trade before Trump’s political rise may be reluctant to continue aligning with Trump’s aggressive protectionism.