President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday removing 50% tariffs on some Canadian agricultural and forestry products, a move explicitly tied to helping a fellow Republican in a tight Senate re-election race — while simultaneously adding new tariffs on other Canadian goods to offset the relief.
The tariff changes take effect October 30, just four days before the November 3 midterm elections, when Republicans are fighting to retain control of Congress.
What is changing
According to White House documents, the order exempts several categories of Canadian products from the 50% tariffs Trump imposed in late August: plywood sheets, some paper products, certain machinery and refrigeration equipment, packing crates and boxes, and fresh and dried seaweed.
But the relief is not a net cut. To offset it, Trump added a 50% tariff to a list of other Canadian products, including carpets, paints, shampoos, cocoa powder, wooden coffins, ice cream sticks, air-conditioning machines, chest freezers, archery equipment and canoes. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the action, also cited certain valves and waste products among the newly tariffed goods.
The order was signed just two months after Trump slapped 50% duties on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods — about 5% of Canada’s exports to the United States — when last-minute trade negotiations between the two countries broke down.
Why now: the Collins race
The political motivation is unusually explicit. The exemptions were requested by Senator Susan Collins, the Maine Republican locked in what polls indicate is a very close re-election battle against Democratic challenger Troy Jackson. The two candidates sparred over tariffs at an October 6 debate.
Collins praised the order in a statement, saying the relief would aid Maine’s blueberry, potato, apple and seaweed producers.
“These producers are a vital part of our state’s economy and support our rural and coastal communities,” Collins said. “Many of our farmers and growers 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.”
The senator said she had “secured” the exemptions for products crucial to Maine’s agricultural industries and would continue pressing for broader relief and a wider trade agreement with Canada.
With the midterms two weeks away, Democrats are targeting Collins’s seat as part of their bid to win Congress. Maine borders Canada and has been hit hard by the trade war.
The broader US-Canada trade war
Tensions between the North American neighbors have been running high since trade talks collapsed in August. Trump imposed a wave of new tariffs on Canadian goods, Canada retaliated with tariffs of its own, and Trump subsequently banned the import of certain Canadian products and threatened to double tariffs on Canadian vehicles in January if no agreement is reached.
About 70% of all Canadian exports go to the United States, making the tariffs a major economic pressure point. Earlier Trump levies on autos, steel, aluminum and lumber have hit Canada hard — the country has entered a technical recession this year after two consecutive quarters of economic contraction.
Trump’s tariffs on Canada have also caused friction with the U.S. neighbor to the north while creating problems for American businesses in Maine and other states that rely on certain Canadian goods, according to reporting by Reuters.
What happens next
The new measures take effect October 30. Whether they are enough to sway Maine voters remains the open question — Jackson has made Trump’s trade war with Canada a central issue in the campaign, and the race is neck-and-neck heading into the final week.
More broadly, the partial rollback signals that tariff policy is now a live variable in the midterm campaign, not just a settled trade strategy. Collins herself has broken with Trump on tariffs before as she fights for re-election in a state heavily reliant on Canadian trade — and this order shows the White House is willing to adjust the pressure, product by product, where its own candidates feel the pain.