Trump’s tariffs loom over Maine Senate race between Collins and Jackson

A tariff is a government charge on goods brought across a border. It is usually collected from the importing business, not directly from the foreign government. The importer may then pass the added expense along through higher prices. Tariffs are used to pressure trading partners or protect domestic industries, but they can also raise costs at home.

Maine’s lobster-trap makers show how this works. The wire mesh used by Brooks Trap Mill came from a domestic supplier, but that supplier raised prices 20% during the same week Trump imposed a 50% tariff on imported steel. The tariff increased pressure throughout the steel market, even for a Maine manufacturer buying materials domestically.

The result was a squeeze on businesses and customers. Brooks absorbed some costs, while freight surcharges and weaker sales added more pressure. The article presents tariffs as part of wider affordability problems facing Maine, including higher fuel and heating costs.

Canada is one of Maine’s most important trading partners. More than 40% of the state’s exports go to its northern neighbor. That share makes Canada especially important for Maine businesses, workers and communities connected to cross-border trade. It also means Canadian tariffs can cause unusually large damage in Maine.

Brooks Trap Mill illustrates the exposure. The company normally sends about $2 million in lobster traps to Canada each year. After Canada imposed a 50% tariff on U.S. lobster traps, those shipments dried up virtually overnight. The business also faced higher material and transportation costs, creating pressure from both sides of its operations.

The economic relationship is now central to Maine’s Senate race. Voters rate the economy poorly, and seven in ten likely voters say tariffs on Canadian goods are bad for the state. The dispute has made trade policy a direct affordability and election issue.

Maine’s lobster-trap manufacturers have been hit by several cost and demand shocks at once. A domestic wire-mesh supplier raised prices 20% after Trump imposed a 50% tariff on imported steel. Rising diesel prices then brought freight surcharges. As lobstermen tightened their budgets, Brooks Trap Mill also saw sales slow.

The Canadian market suffered the sharpest blow. Brooks Trap Mill usually shipped about $2 million worth of lobster traps across the northern border each year. After Canada imposed a 50% tariff on U.S. lobster traps in September, those shipments dried up virtually overnight. The tariff made the traps much more expensive for Canadian buyers, weakening demand.

The company tried to absorb as much cost as possible to protect customers from price increases. Brooks said it could not absorb more. The combined effect is a severe business squeeze, with higher inputs, costlier transport, weaker domestic sales and lost exports.

The article identifies Canada’s action as retaliation. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney imposed a 50% tariff on U.S. lobster traps in September after Trump imposed duties on Canadian goods. The purpose described in the article was to respond to U.S. trade measures, not to target a separate Maine policy.

The premise that Canada ultimately left Maine lobster traps off its retaliation list is not supported by the source. The article specifically says U.S. lobster traps were included in Canada’s retaliation and that Brooks Trap Mill’s Canadian shipments dried up virtually overnight. It gives no explanation for excluding Maine lobster traps.

The article does say Susan Collins secured exemptions for some other products. Those items included concrete, wood pulp and road salt. Lobster traps are not listed among the exemptions. As a result, Maine’s trap makers remained directly exposed to the Canadian tariff.

Susan Collins has repeatedly pushed back against the Trump administration’s tariffs. She says she and Troy Jackson would both have voted against the Canadian duties. Collins also negotiated exemptions for several important products, including concrete, wood pulp and road salt.

Jackson takes a harder line. He argues Congress should have prevented the tariffs altogether, rather than allowing a list of duties that senators later tried to edit. He also says Collins’s seniority in Washington should have enabled her to do more for Maine. In their debate, he rejected giving her credit for removing items from the list.

The disagreement reflects the central political question in Maine’s Senate race. Collins argues that negotiation produced concrete results, while Jackson says the trade war itself should never have happened. Both candidates criticize the tariffs, but they assign responsibility differently and offer contrasting measures of success.

Tariffs can raise domestic prices because modern production depends on connected supply chains. A manufacturer may buy a material from a U.S. supplier, but that supplier may rely on imported inputs or compete with imported goods. When those inputs become more expensive, the supplier can raise its own prices. The cost then moves through the chain.

That is what happened to Brooks Trap Mill. The company used wire mesh from a domestic supplier. In the same week Trump imposed a 50% tariff on imported steel, the supplier raised its prices 20%. The article does not say the mesh itself was imported. It shows how tariff pressure can still reach a domestic buyer through the broader steel market.

Manufacturers then face difficult choices. They can absorb the increase, raise prices, reduce production or accept lower profits. Brooks said it had absorbed as much as possible, while freight surcharges and slower sales made further price increases harder.

In the United States, Congress has the constitutional power to regulate foreign commerce, including setting tariffs. In practice, Congress has passed laws allowing presidents to impose certain tariffs under specified conditions. The president and executive agencies then apply those authorities to particular goods and countries.

Congress can limit or change tariffs by passing a new law, removing or narrowing delegated authority, or setting conditions for executive action. It can also use hearings, investigations and funding decisions to oversee implementation. The president may negotiate exemptions or alter duties when existing law allows it.

The source does not explain the legal details of tariff authority. It does report Troy Jackson’s argument that Congress should have been able to prevent the Canadian tariffs. That dispute matters because Maine voters are judging both the president’s trade policy and whether Collins, as a senator, did enough to challenge or change it.