White House drops some Canadian tariffs but quietly adds new ones — swap announced less than an hour after Collins claimed credit

UNITED STATES: The White House said Friday it will drop tariffs on some Canadian goods but replace them with duties on other products from the United States’ major trade partner, according to CNBC. The changes take effect on Oct 30, four days before the Nov 3 election.

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation removing certain products from the list of items hit with 50% tariffs over the summer under Section 338, a 96-year-old trade law. A White House fact sheet said he is “replacing those products with certain valves, carpets, waste products, and others” to “further refine the scope of the tariffs on certain Canadian products.” The fact sheet did not mention Maine.

Collins takes credit, then new tariffs follow

The move came to light after Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she had pushed the administration to exempt several categories of Canadian imports she called “crucial” for her state’s industries.

According to CNBC, her press release credited her with securing exemptions on “nine categories of products crucial for Maine’s agricultural industries.” It did not mention that new tariffs would be added. The White House announced them less than an hour later.

Collins said the exempted products include corrugated paper, plastic boxes and packing bags, refrigeration equipment, multiple forms of machinery, and seaweed and algae products. She said she had asked US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for relief and would keep seeking more, while encouraging “a broader trade agreement with Canada, our neighbour, ally and largest trading partner.” According to the US Census Bureau, however, Mexico is the largest US trading partner.

Asked what Collins had agreed to, spokeswoman Phoebe Keller told CNBC the senator “requested exemptions for products that are important to Maine and will continue to do so.”

A tariff-heavy Senate race

Voters have already begun casting ballots in the Maine Senate race, where Trump’s tariffs have been a top issue. Maine imports far more from Canada than from any other country, and the tariffs have strained its businesses.

Collins’ Democratic opponent, fifth-generation logger Troy Jackson, pushed back quickly. “Trump’s trade wars have made life harder and more expensive for Mainers. Susan Collins enabled this chaos, voted to confirm the people behind it, and now wants credit for bringing a cup of water to put out the fire,” he said.

At their first televised debate on Oct 6, Collins took credit for removing items including road salt from the tariff list. Jackson replied, “What about everything else? We can’t eat road salt.”

Spokesman Matthew Middleton said the proclamation responds to “Canada’s continued discrimination against and additional retaliation targeting U.S. commerce,” with the goal of “protecting American farmers, manufacturers, and workers.” He added that the administration “will continue to use every available tool to restore reciprocity in our bilateral trade relationships and safeguard the economic prosperity and national security of the American people.”