Senator Peter Welch of Vermont told CNN on Thursday that Republican senators privately reject President Trump’s tariffs while staying quiet in public.

Welch answered a question from Pamela Brown about Canada’s prime minister seeking closer European Union ties. He said the shift harms the United States.

Welch noted Trump once praised the USMCA as the best trade deal then discarded it and imposed tariffs Welch said he lacks power to set. He called the policy arbitrary and impulsive, at odds with the GOP’s usual low-tax no-tariff approach, and warned of lasting harm to ties with Canada as Ottawa turns to Europe instead.