U.S. to drop some Canada tariffs, Maine’s Collins says

The United States will remove some tariffs on Canadian goods used by Maine farmers, Republican Sen. Susan Collins said Friday, less than two weeks before the U.S. midterm elections.

Collins announced the move on social media and in a statement, saying the administration will lower tariffs on products “crucial to Maine’s agricultural industries,” CTV News reported. The Globe and Mail reported the relief covers nine product categories that had been hit with 50 per cent duties.

NBC News reported the exemptions cover goods used by blueberry, potato, apple and seaweed producers, including plastic containers and crates, packing materials and equipment, refrigeration equipment, sealing and labelling machinery, film, foil and seaweed products.

“Many of our farmers and growers rely on specialized equipment, packaging materials, and other products from Canada,” Collins said, according to the Globe and Mail. She told NBC she was “pleased to have secured additional tariff exemptions” and would “continue working directly with Administration officials to seek additional relief.”

The White House, the Commerce Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative had not responded to requests for comment when NBC published its report. Collins’s announcement did not mention Trump, NBC said, and named only officials including U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. We could not find an official confirmation from the administration, and the details of the exemptions could change once they are formally published.

The Globe and Mail said Collins had earlier secured tariff relief on Canadian road salt and other goods, but the administration then added tariffs on other products so the total amount of tariffed Canadian goods stayed the same. She did not say whether new products would be added this time, the newspaper reported.

Collins faces a difficult re-election race in Maine. CNBC reported that her Democratic opponent, Troy Jackson, has sought to tie her to unpopular tariffs, and that it is unclear how much the relief will help her.

The duties were applied after Canada withdrew from trade negotiations with the Trump administration in late August, NBC reported. The United States imposed two waves of tariffs, and the second included the 50 per cent duties. Prime Minister Mark Carney has called U.S. demands “unfair” and “uneconomic,” according to NBC. Trump has said of Canada: “there’s nothing they have that we need.”

NBC also reported that Carney has expanded trade ties with China, India and the United Kingdom, and is set to reach an agreement with the European Union on becoming an “associate member” at a summit in Montreal.

The announcement comes as Canadian exporters and U.S. importers continue to absorb the cost of the tariffs. Earlier this week, a U.S. importer sued over the 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods. On Friday, Carney said U.S. claims of Canadian meddling have no merit. On Thursday, Ottawa and Ontario unveiled an $8.7-billion plan for steel, autos and mining.

Search interest in Collins spiked in Canada on Friday, according to Google Trends. Neither the Canadian government nor the Prime Minister’s Office had commented on the exemptions in the reports we reviewed.

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Sources: CTV News, The Globe and Mail, NBC News, CNBC. Photo: U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in 2018. File photo, not from the announcement. Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0.