Maine Republicans Break With Trump on Canada Tariffs as Collins Defends Vulnerable 1 Senate Seat
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jul 22
Maine Republicans Break With Trump on Canada Tariffs as Collins Defends Vulnerable 1 Senate Seat
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jul 22
Summary
Susan Collins said she has “voted repeatedly” against Trump’s Canada tariffs, joining other Maine Republicans now trying to distance themselves from a policy that could raise costs in the state.
Maine’s economy is tightly linked to Canada: Collins said blueberries, potatoes, lobster and lumber are often harvested in Maine, processed across the border and then sent back.
Bobby Charles, the GOP gubernatorial candidate who backed Trump’s tariff approach last year, now says he would work with the president to reduce the burden on Mainers from an escalating trade war.
Troy Jackson, the presumptive Democratic Senate nominee, used the issue to attack Collins, calling the tariffs a tax on Maine people and pledging to vote to end them and return tariff authority to Congress.
The split underscores how affordability, high gas prices and sticky inflation are shaping Maine’s midterm politics, with the tariff fight threatening industries such as blueberries and complicating Republicans’ effort to hold Collins’ seat.