Collins touts Trump decision to remove some farm products from Canada tariffs
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Nine categories of agricultural products will soon be exempted from the Trump administration’s 50% tariffs on Canada, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced Friday.
The soon-to-be exempted products, which range from corrugated cardboard to agricultural machinery used in Maine’s blueberry and potato farms, have been subject to the steep import duties as part of President Donald Trump’s ongoing trade war with Canada.
But the tariffs that were implemented this summer have been deeply unpopular in Maine; two-way trade between the state and Canada, pretariffs, was worth $6 billion per year. Collins, a Republican fighting against political headwinds and Democrat Troy Jackson to win a sixth term in the Senate, had broken from her party’s leader and called for the tariffs to be rescinded.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday just minutes before Collins’ news release that the Trump administration was rescinding the tariffs to help Collins in her reelection bid, citing people familiar with the situation.
As of 3:15 p.m. Friday, Trump had yet to publicly pronounce any changes to the tariffs. Collins’ office was the first to publicize the changes, via a news release.
In that release, Collins touted her connections in the Trump administration and said she secured the exemptions after “repeated conversations” with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
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The product groups exempted under the forthcoming order include cardboard boxes; plastic boxes and crates; plastic packing bags; cooling equipment; cleaning, sorting and grading agricultural machinery; packaging machinery; non-adhesive plates, foil and strip; and seaweed and algae products, Collins’ office said.
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“Many of our 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,” Collins said in the release.
The original value of the 50% tariffs on Canada was about $20 billion; Collins’ office did not note the value of these new exemptions.
The senator said that she had “asked for tariff relief for these important products and stressed the burdens that additional costs impose on Maine businesses and families.”
“I will continue working directly with administration officials to seek additional relief from tariffs and encourage a broader trade agreement with Canada, our neighbor, ally and largest trading partner,” Collins said.
Collins has also claimed credit for the exemption of several other goods from tariffs in recent months, including Canada’s removal of American seafood products from its own list.
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Collins’ claim that she secured the exemption of road salt from Canadian tariffs produced a memorable moment in her second debate with Jackson earlier this month, when Jackson told Collins that Mainers “can’t eat road salt.” Both candidates oppose the duties.
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Tariffs have caused significant uncertainty for Maine businesses, experts and industry leaders said this summer.
That uncertainty has been amplified by the volatility of the trade war, with its rounds of rescissions and add-ons. Trump implemented the taxes over the summer with a never-before-used provision of a Great Depression-era law that allows the president to issue retaliatory tariffs. Court challenges are ongoing.
The tariff exemption is the latest of several recent preelection announcements from Collins’ office attempting to portray the five-term senator as a well-connected leader who secures funding for Maine as chair of the appropriations committee.
Collins’ office also recently touted her efforts to secure the early release of heating assistance funds amid price surges driven by the ongoing war in Iran. And Collins claimed credit for the release of emergency heating oil following a letter she co-wrote with Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, to Trump administration officials.
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Tagged: Canada, election 2026, maine politics, Susan Collins, tariffs, Troy Jackson, Trump administration
Ethan reports on cost of living for the Portland Press Herald. Before he joined in mid-2026, he covered local news in Augusta and surrounding areas and ran a weekly newsletter for the Kennebec Journal. More by Ethan Horton
