Susan Collins, the embattled Republican senator for Maine, announced that several industries crucial to her state would be exempted from American tariffs on Canada , a notable win for her as she faces a tight re-election campaign that will help determine whether Democrats can flip control of Congress.
In a statement on X, Collins said that the exemptions would apply to nine agricultural products, including blueberries, potatoes, apples and seaweed. She added that many of the state’s farmers rely on specialized equipment and materials from across the border that are “unavailable from American suppliers or cannot be replaced without incurring significant expense”.
“In my repeated conversations with Ambassador Greer, Secretary Lutnick, and other senior administration officials, I have asked for tariff relief for these important products, and 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,” she wrote.
Collins, who has served in the Senate for nearly 30 years, is running for re-election against Troy Jackson, a Democrat who has served in the Maine state senate and was a former logger. The race is crucial for the Democratic party’s hopes of flipping control of the chamber, and is so far considered a toss-up.
The trade war between Canada and Maine has touched a nerve in the state, which relies heavily on trade with Canada. Many of the industries most entrenched in the state’s history – such as logging, lobstering and fishing – were expected to take a hit after Trump’s tariff announcements this year.
After Trump placed a 50% tariff on certain Canadian goods, which began 22 August, Canada announced its own retaliatory tariffs in response, ranging from 15% to 50% on $20bn worth of American goods. Canada later withdrew its tariffs on American seafood, which helped Maine’s fisheries in particular.
Maine is considered a purple state, and many within the state – including Collins – consider themselves to have an independent streak. Collins has frequently sought to distance herself from Trump, particularly when it comes to his trade policies, and has broken with her party more than any other Republican senator since Trump took office, according to a New York Times analysis of her voting record.
But her efforts to vote against Trump’s policies have rarely succeeded in his second term so far, the analysis found.
Jackson has frequently seized on this line of attack since replacing Graham Platner on the Democratic ticket. At a television debate earlier this month, Jackson also pointed to Collins’s crucial vote to confirm conservative supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh. The court subsequently overturned Roe v Wade.
“Tonight is about who you stand with when it matters,” Jackson said in his opening statement.
