U.S. dropping some Canada tariffs, replacing with others

The White House on Friday said it would drop tariffs on some Canadian goods, but replace them with other products from the major U.S. trade partner.

The move was revealed after Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, took credit for pushing the Trump administration to issue tariff exemptions on several categories of Canadian imports she says are “crucial” for her state’s industries.

But Collins’ announcement, which The Wall Street Journal first reported, did not mention that while tariffs would be removed for some Canadian products, new ones would be added to the list of goods subject to steep U.S. duties. The White House announced the new tariffs less than an hour after Collins touted the new exemptions to the tariffs, which are unpopular in the state where she’s fighting for reelection.

President Donald Trump earlier Friday signed a proclamation “removing certain products” from the list of items that he slapped 50% tariffs on over the summer using a 96-year-old trade law.

But he is “replacing those products with certain valves, carpets, waste products, and others,” according to a White House fact sheet detailing the proclamation.

The changes are being made to “further refine the scope of the tariffs on certain Canadian products,” according to the fact sheet, which does not mention Maine.

The new additions and removals from the list of goods covered by the “Section 338” tariffs will take effect Oct. 30, four days before the Nov. 3 U.S. election, the fact sheet said.

Asked what Collins had agreed to in her conversations pushing Trump administration officials for lower tariffs on products affecting her state, her spokeswoman Phoebe Keller told CNBC that the senator “requested exemptions for products that are important to Maine and will continue to do so.”

Before the fact sheet was made public, Collins’ office sent a press release crediting the senator with securing the new tariff exemptions on “nine categories of products crucial for Maine’s agricultural industries.”

That announcement came as voters have already started casting ballots in the pivotal Maine Senate race, where Trump’s unpopular tariffs have been a top issue.

Collins’ Democratic opponent, fifth-generation Maine logger Troy Jackson, quickly pushed back, insisting Collins deserves blame for enabling Trump’s tariff policies.

“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,” Jackson said in a statement.

Trump has slapped heavy tariffs on a wide range of Canadian goods during his second term as president as he has escalated a trade war against the top U.S. economic partner. Many of those tariffs have put considerable strain on businesses in Maine, which imports far more products from Canada than from any other country.

White House spokesman Matthew Middleton told CNBC in a statement Friday afternoon that Trump’s latest tariff proclamation is part of his efforts to “address Canada’s discriminatory treatment of U.S. commerce.”

“The President is taking action in response to Canada’s continued discrimination against and additional retaliation targeting U.S. commerce, with the goal of protecting American farmers, manufacturers, and workers,” said Middleton. “This 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.”

Collins has previously touted her efforts to push back on the president’s protectionist trade policies. In the first televised debate between Collins and Jackson on Oct. 6, the GOP incumbent took credit for removing some items from Trump’s list of tariffs on Canadian goods, including road salt.

Jackson fired back, “What about everything else? We can’t eat road salt.”

In her press release Friday, Collins said she has asked U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick “for tariff relief” for the Maine-centric products, stressing the “burdens additional costs impose on Maine businesses and families.”

“I will continue working directly with Administration officials to seek additional relief from tariffs and encourage a broader trade agreement with Canada, our neighbor, ally and largest trading partner,” she said.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Mexico is the largest U.S. trading partner.

The products being exempted from the Section 338 tariffs include corrugated paper, plastic boxes and packing bags, refrigeration equipment, multiple forms of machinery and seaweed and algae products, according to Collins.