President Donald Trump signed an order on Friday removing 50 percent tariffs on a range of Canadian agricultural and forestry products. The White House said the move would "better serve the public interest." Democrats called it a desperate bid to rescue Republican Senator Susan Collins in her re-election fight.
The exemptions take effect on 30 October. They cover plywood sheets, certain paper products, machinery, refrigeration equipment, packing crates, boxes, and fresh and dried seaweed. Collins said the relief would help Maine's blueberry, potato, apple and seaweed producers. These farmers rely on specialized equipment and packaging materials from Canada that are unavailable or far more expensive from U.S. suppliers.
"These producers are a vital part of our state's economy and support our rural and coastal communities," Collins said in a statement. She added that she had pressed Ambassador Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for the changes.
To offset the relief, the order adds 50 percent tariffs on a new list of Canadian goods. RTE reported the new duties target a range of household and industrial items including carpets, paints, waste products, personal care goods, cocoa products, wooden coffins, ice cream sticks, cooling appliances, chest freezers, archery equipment and canoes.
Collins, a five-term senator who has served nearly 30 years, faces Democrat Troy Jackson in a race rated a toss-up. Jackson is a former logger and state Senate president. The seat is critical to Democratic hopes of flipping the chamber in the 3 November midterms.
At an October 6 debate, Jackson attacked Collins over the trade war. "Trump's trade wars have made life harder and more expensive for Mainers," he said. He argued that Collins enabled the chaos, voted to confirm the officials behind it, and now seeks credit for offering minimal relief.
The Straits Times reported that Senate Finance Committee chair Ron Wyden called the tariff rollback a "desperate, 11th hour attempt to save Susan Collins' political career."
Canada's minister for U.S. trade, Dominic LeBlanc, said Ottawa would evaluate the measures but remained "ready to work together in a constructive and good-faith manner."
The partial reversal follows a breakdown in trade talks in August. Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on $20 billion of Canadian imports. Canada retaliated with tariffs of 15 to 50 percent on $20 billion of U.S. goods. The Canadian economy has since entered a technical recession after two consecutive quarters of contraction.
Collins has frequently distanced herself from Trump's trade policies. The Guardian reported she has split with her party more often than any other Republican senator since Trump took office, based on a New York Times analysis. But her votes against his policies have rarely prevailed in his second term.