Republican Sen. Susan Collins announced Friday that nine categories of products crucial to Maine’s agricultural industries will be exempted from President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada — and she says the shift comes after she repeatedly lobbied Trump administration officials. The move is a fresh sign that some Republicans are willing to oppose Trump on tariffs as the November 3 midterms approach.
The exemptions cover goods Maine’s farmers depend on, including products for blueberry, potato, apple, and seaweed producers, plus plastic boxes, crates, packing materials, refrigeration equipment, sealing and labelling machinery, packing equipment, film and foil. According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal and Reuters, the cancelled duties included 50% tariffs on some agricultural and forestry items, imposed after Canada withdrew from trade talks with the administration in late August.
Susan Collins (Credits: MarketWatch)
What Susan Collins Says She Won for Maine
Collins, a five-term senator in a tight re-election fight against Democratic challenger Troy Jackson, credited US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for the decision — notably not Trump himself, who has repeatedly insisted there is nothing the United States needs from Canada.
Collins said Maine farmers and growers rely on specialized Canadian equipment and packaging that is unavailable from American suppliers or prohibitively expensive to replace. She said she would keep pressing for further relief and for a broader trade agreement with Canada, which she described as a neighbor, an ally and America’s largest trading partner.
The WSJ reported that the tariff reductions could be balanced out by raising levies on other Canadian goods, and a White House official called preliminary reporting “speculation,” saying any tariff announcements would come directly from the administration.
Other Republicans Are Breaking With Trump on Tariffs Too
Collins is not alone. The GOP’s Senate nominee in Michigan, former Rep. Mike Rogers, has released an ad saying: “Here in Michigan, we know that Canada is not our enemy. We need to end this tariff war now.” In New Hampshire’s Senate race, Republican nominee John Sununu has said it “doesn’t make any sense to engage in a trade war with Canada.”
The Cook Political Report rates the Maine and Michigan races as toss-ups and New Hampshire as “leans Democratic” — and the northern-border economies of Michigan and Maine are deeply intertwined with Canada, from auto parts to lumber to fruit-picking equipment.
The political math is plain. An AP-NORC poll in September found that 64% of US adults think Trump has gone too far in imposing new tariffs on other countries, up from 58% in January. With midterms less than two weeks away, the tariff war with Canada is becoming a Republican campaign problem — and Collins just showed how one GOP candidate turned it into a talking point.
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Source: MarketWatch — read the full story there.