President Donald Trump’s administration lifted some tariffs on Canadian imports Friday, two weeks ahead of midterm elections, after a vulnerable Republican candidate said she’d lobbied for the change.
The change could help Senator Susan Collins, who faces a strong challenge from a Democrat in the US-Canada border state of Maine, which has been hit hard by Trump’s trade war. Democrats are targeting Collins’s seat in their attempt to win control of Congress from the Republicans in the November 3 midterms. The new measures will take effect on October 30.
The easing of tariffs will apply to products including “plywood sheets, some paper products, certain machinery and refrigeration equipment,” the White House said in a statement. Friday’s action lifts tariffs on certain goods, but imposes levies on new ones, including carpets, certain valves and waste products, the White House said.
“The Canadian government takes note of these recent tariff measures adopted by the United States,” Dominic LeBlanc, Ottawa’s minister in charge of US-Canada trade, said in a statement to AFP. Collins said many farmers in her state “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.”
