The Trump administration on Friday said it had granted tariff exemptions on some Canadian imports, an implicit acknowledgement that President Donald Trump’s signature trade policy could be hurting Republican candidates running in the Nov. 3 midterm election.
The canceled tariffs include 50% duties on some agricultural items. These duties were applied to Canadian products after the country withdrew from trade negotiations with the Trump administration in late August.
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Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who’s facing a tough re-election battle in Maine, first announced the news on social media: “I am pleased to have secured additional tariff exemptions products crucial to Maine’s agricultural industries, including blueberry, potato, apple, and seaweed producers.”
She said that plastic boxes, crates, packing materials, refrigeration equipment, sealing and labeling machinery, packing equipment, film, foil and seaweed products were some of the other products getting exemptions.
A document posted to the White House website confirmed the action, but it said that the administration was also adding tariffs to “certain valves, carpets, waste products” and other items to make up for the duties it was removing.
The White House statement said the move aimed to “further refine the scope of the tariffs” applied to Canada.
Collins, in her announcement, said that many “farmers and growers rely on specialized equipment, packaging materials, and other products from Canada that are either unavailable from American suppliers or cannot be replaced without incurring significant expense.”
Democrat Troy Jackson, who is challenging Collins for her Senate seat, responded by saying: “Trump’s trade wars have made life harder and more expensive for Mainers. 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.”
He added on X: “Mainers needed help long before Susan Collins needed saving.”
Collins’ announcement did not mention Trump, only top administration officials such as U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The White House announcement made no mention of Collins, who has occasionally sparred with Trump.
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“I will continue working directly with Administration officials to seek additional relief and encourage a broader trade agreement with Canada, our neighbor, ally, and largest trading partner,” Collins said.
The Commerce Department and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Other Republicans have broken with Trump’s most well-known economic policy, too. Mike Rogers, who’s in a tight race for a Senate seat in Michigan, told NBC News last week that he would like to see the trade war with Canada “wrapped up.”
After U.S. officials made what Prime Minister Mark Carney called “unfair” and “uneconomic” demands, the U.S. hit Canada with two waves of tariffs, the second of which included the 50% duties.
Trump has repeatedly said “there’s nothing they have that we need” from Canada. “We have everything,” Trump said in September.
On Sept. 28, Trump predicted that Carney would be removing tariffs. “I think what’s going to happen is over the next three or four weeks, they’re going to come to us, and they’re going to say, ‘we’re going to get rid of all the tariffs,’” the president said.
“We’re going to win everything,” Trump predicted. “They’re going to come in, and they’re going to say, ‘Sir, we are sorry.’”
Asked about Trump’s prediction a day later, Carney laughed during a press conference, adding that he had no additional comment to make.
Carney has stood steady in the face of repeated verbal attacks from Trump since the trade war kicked off in August. As Trump has ramped up social media attacks, Carney has turned to the rest of the world, opening up Canada’s economy to China, India, and the United Kingdom.
Next week, Carney is set to reach a historic agreement with the European Union over the terms of becoming the bloc’s first-ever “associate member” during an E.U.-Canada summit in Montreal.
The European Union’s 27 member states collectively are the world’s single largest trading bloc and the union is the world’s third largest behind the U.S. and China.
