Trump administration cancels some Canada tariffs ahead of midterm elections
Maine senator Susan Collins announces exemptions for blueberry, potato and seaweed producers, president still insists Canada has nothing America needs
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Less than two weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, Senator Susan Collins of Maine announced that the Trump administration is exempting a list of Canadian products from its tariffs: plastic boxes, crates, packing materials, refrigeration equipment, sealing and labeling machinery, film, foil, and seaweed goods. Neither Trump nor the White House had confirmed the exemptions by publication, and requests for comment to the administration went unanswered.
The exemptions lift 50 percent duties on some agricultural and forestry items, imposed after Canada withdrew from trade negotiations in late August. Collins, a Republican in a tough re-election race, said Maine's blueberry, potato, apple, and seaweed growers rely on Canadian supplies "either unavailable from American suppliers or cannot be replaced without incurring significant expense." She credited the relief to repeated conversations with Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick; her statement did not mention the president. The announcement lands with polls giving Democrats a solid chance at majorities in both chambers of Congress.
The president's own line on Canada runs in the opposite direction. "There's nothing they have that we need," Trump has said repeatedly; in September he added, "We have everything." On September 28 he predicted Prime Minister Mark Carney would remove all Canadian tariffs within weeks, telling the story with the words, "Sir, we are sorry." Carney, asked about the prediction a day later, laughed and declined to comment. In Michigan, Senate candidate Mike Rogers told NBC he would like the trade war "wrapped up."
Ottawa has spent the same months opening doors elsewhere. In response to the trade war, Carney has opened Canada's economy to China, India, and the United Kingdom, and next week he is set to agree terms making Canada the European Union's first-ever associate member at a summit in Montreal. Collins, who promises to keep pressing for "additional relief" and a broader trade agreement, faces Maine's voters on November 3.