Collins warns Canadian tariffs will hit $170M in Maine goods, urges return to negotiations

Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said Friday that roughly $170 million in local goods will be impacted by the proposed Canadian tariffs, with more than half of that coming from the forest product sector. 

Collins wrote to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and urged them to resume trade negotiations with Canada. 

“Maine’s economy is uniquely intertwined with Canada, and the consequences of an escalating trade dispute will be felt by American families, businesses, workers and communities across the state,” Collins wrote. “Thousands of American jobs and businesses across a variety of sectors are at risk.”

Canada excludes seafood from tariffs, sparing Maine’s lobster industry

Collins said two Maine paper mills, which she said were the largest employers in their towns, reached out to her office and said the tariffs will cause “crushing increased costs” and could potentially impact the mills’ staffing levels. 

Nearly 90% of Maine is forested, and the forestry sector supports roughly 30,000 jobs and contributes more than $8 billion to the state economy, the senator noted. 

Collins said she appreciated that Canada revised the tariffs to exclude seafood and fish products, but the remaining import taxes will still have a significant impact on Maine communities. 

“For example, Maine municipalities rely on road salt from Canada to keep roads safe from snow and ice in the winter,” Collins said. “Frenchville, a very small town on the Canadian border, will have to pay $10,000 more for road salt as a result of the new tariffs.”