The White House announced Friday that it would lower tariffs on some Canadian products, but replace them with other products from major countries. Trading partner of the United States.
The move came to light after Sen. Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, took credit for pushing the Trump administration to grant tariff exemptions on several categories of Canadian imports that she said are “crucial” to her state’s industries.
But Collins’ announcement, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, did not mention that while tariffs would be removed on some Canadian products, new ones would be added to the list of products subject to high U.S. tariffs. The White House announced the new tariffs less than an hour after Collins touted the new tariff exemptions, which are unpopular in the state where she is fighting for re-election.
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation earlier Friday “removing certain products” from the list of items on which he imposed 50% tariffs over the summer under a 96-year-old trade law.
But it “replaces these products with certain valves, mats, waste and others,” according to a White House fact sheet detailing the proclamation.
The changes are intended to “further refine the scope of tariffs on certain Canadian products,” according to the fact sheet, which does not mention Maine.
The new additions and deletions to the list of products covered by “Section 338” tariffs will take effect on October 30, four days before the November 3 US election, the fact sheet said.
When asked what Collins agreed to in his conversations pushing Trump administration officials to reduce tariffs on products affecting his state, her Spokeswoman Phoebe Keller told CNBC that the senator “has requested exemptions for products important to Maine and will continue to do so.”
Before the fact sheet was made public, Collins’ office sent out a press release crediting the senator with securing the new tariff exemptions on “nine product categories crucial to Maine’s agricultural industries.”
The announcement comes as voters have already begun voting in Maine’s crucial Senate race, where Trump’s unpopular tariffs have been a major topic.
Collins’ Democratic opponent, Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation Maine logger, quickly pushed back, insisting that Collins deserves blame for enabling Trump’s tariff policies.
“Trump’s trade wars have made life harder and more expensive for Maine people. Susan Collins enabled this chaos, voted to confirm the people behind it, and now wants credit for bringing a cup of water to put out the fire,” Jackson said in a statement.
Trump imposed heavy tariffs on a wide range of Canadian products during his second presidential term, as he escalated his trade war against the United States’ main economic partner. Many of these tariffs put significant pressure on Maine businesses, which import far more products from Canada than from any other country.
White House spokesman Matthew Middleton told CNBC Friday afternoon that Trump’s latest tariff proclamation was part of his effort to “address Canada’s discriminatory treatment of U.S. trade.”
“The President is taking action in response to Canada’s continued discrimination and additional retaliation against U.S. trade, with the goal of protecting American farmers, manufacturers and workers,” Middleton said. “This administration will continue to use every tool available to restore reciprocity in our bilateral trade relationship and safeguard the economic prosperity and national security of the American people.”
Collins has previously touted his efforts to push back against the president’s protectionist trade policies. During the first televised debate between Collins and Jackson on October 6, the outgoing Republican president took credit for removing certain items from Trump’s list of tariffs on Canadian products, including road salt.
Jackson replied, “What about everything else? We can’t eat road salt.”
In her press release Friday, Collins said she asked U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for “tariff relief” for Maine-centric products, emphasizing the “burden that additional costs place on Maine businesses and families.”
“I will continue to work directly with administration officials to secure additional tariff relief and encourage a broader trade agreement with Canada, our neighbor, ally and largest trading partner,” she said.
According to the US Census Bureau, Mexico is the United States’ largest trading partner.
Products exempt from Section 338 tariffs include corrugated paper, plastic boxes and packaging bags, refrigeration equipment, multiple forms of machinery and algae products, according to Collins.
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