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U.S. President Donald Trump is poised to lift tariffs on some Canadian products — and hit others with new duties — as Republicans in border states lobby for relief from trade actions that have put them in a shaky political position ahead of November’s midterms.
Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins said on Friday that the Trump administration will scrap tariffs on some paper and plastic products, refrigeration and packaging equipment, agricultural machinery and seaweed and algae products, among others, after she relayed how damaging these levies have been for consumers and businesses in her state.
Trump hit these products with a 50 per cent tariff in August, apparently retaliating for Canada’s countermeasures on some U.S. goods that were imposed after the president first launched his trade war last year.
While removing tariffs on some products important to a politically sensitive swing state, the White House said it would levy new Section 338 tariffs on products with certain valves, carpets and waste products “to continue addressing Canada’s discriminatory treatment of U.S. commerce.”
The six-page list of new Canadian products facing the 50 per cent tariff also includes shampoos, cocoa powder products, window air-conditioning units, archery equipment and canoes less than 7.5 metres long, among others.
Collins said the Canadian products that are getting a tariff reprieve are “essential” to some Maine businesses and farms and cannot be easily replaced with U.S. alternatives.
She said, for example, Maine’s blueberry growers rely on Canadian-made specialized harvesting boxes that work with existing processing equipment. Plus, a U.S. supplier of cardboard totes widely used in the agricultural sector recently stopped making that particular product, “leaving producers with no choice but to turn to Canada,” she said.
“I will continue working directly with administration officials to seek additional relief and encourage a broader trade agreement with Canada, our neighbour, ally and largest trading partner,” Collins said in a social media statement announcing the changes.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins campaigns in Fryeburg, Maine, earlier this month. Collins, a Republican, is in a tight race with Democrat Troy Jackson. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Collins, a 30-year veteran of the U.S. upper house, is in a pitched battle for re-election in Maine as she tries to hold off a Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson, who has made Trump’s trade war with Canada a centrepiece of his campaign.
A moderate Republican who has sparred with Trump in the past, Collins had earlier pressured the administration to drop U.S. tariffs on products like road salt given her wintry state depends on Canadian supplies to keep the roads clear.
Another border state Republican Senate candidate, Michigan’s Mike Rogers, has publicly called for an end to the trade war with Canada, saying the tariffs have raised prices at a time when inflation is already high.
Polls show Trump’s dispute with Canada is deeply unpopular among American voters in both major parties.
The tariff climbdown comes on the same day Trump claimed that Canada “very much wants to make a deal” with the U.S. to restore trade peace, while falsely claiming Canada has been making “$90 billion a year” from the U.S.
That’s an apparent reference to the U.S. trade deficit in goods with Canada, which Trump’s own U.S. Trade Representative pegs at $48.3 billion US — much of it driven by U.S. refineries buying large volumes of Alberta oil at a discount to world prices. The U.S. consistently runs a trade surplus in services with Canada.
While suggesting a bilateral deal could soon be in hand, Trump has repeatedly made it clear he is wedded to his tariff policy.
At a Friday rally in Fort Myers, Fla., one of several deep-red states where he is trying to shore up the Republican vote, Trump said “tariffs” is still his “favourite word” because they’ve “made us rich.”
WATCH | Carney says Canada can wait for ‘another administration’:
Carney says Canada can wait for ‘another administration’ if necessary for U.S. trade deal
Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking in Istanbul on Friday, said a trade deal with the U.S. could be signed ‘this afternoon’ if the Americans ‘were there.’ Carney said ‘we don’t care about the timing.’
Prime Minister Mark Carney, meanwhile, said during a bilateral visit to Turkey that Canada is open to a mutually beneficial deal with the U.S. that protects Canadian interests — but the government is in no rush.
“We could sign it this afternoon if the U.S. were there. If it has to be months from now or longer than that, or another administration, before a proper deal comes into place, we will do that,” he said.