Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine announced that nine categories of products tied to her state's agricultural industries will be exempt from Trump's tariffs on Canada. Other GOP Senate candidates are also breaking with the president on tariffs ahead of the midterms.
Sen. Susan Collins, who is in a tight re-election fight in Maine, announced Friday that nine product categories will be exempted from President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada. She said the shift followed her repeated lobbying of Trump administration officials.
Which products are exempt
Collins said the exempted categories include corrugated paper cartons, plastic boxes, plastic bags, refrigeration and freezing equipment, packing and wrapping machinery, and seaweed and algae products. She added that she had previously secured exemptions for road salt, cement and wood pulp.
The White House framed the change differently. Spokesman Matthew Middleton said Trump is further refining the scope of the tariffs on certain Canadian products while acting against Canada's retaliation. A Wall Street Journal report said the reductions Collins is celebrating may be balanced out by raising levies on other Canadian goods.
Other Republicans distance themselves
Collins is not alone. Mike Rogers, the GOP Senate nominee in Michigan, released an ad in which, according to MarketWatch, he says: "We need to end this tariff war now." In New Hampshire, Republican nominee John Sununu has said it doesn't make any sense to engage in a trade war with Canada.
The stance appears to track public opinion. An AP-NORC poll in September found that 64% of U.S. adults think Trump has gone too far in imposing new tariffs on other countries, up from 58% in January.
Democrats dismiss the move
Collins's Democratic opponent, Troy Jackson, criticized the announcement. He said Collins enabled the trade wars and now wants credit for relief from them.
Nathan Dean, a senior government analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, told MarketWatch that GOP candidates need to distance themselves from Trump enough for the election, but not so much that they are out of step with him next year, when tariffs look likely to ramp back up.
Source: MarketWatch
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