Trump Drops 50% Tariffs on Some Canadian Goods Four Days Before Midterms, Adds New Ones

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Friday removing the additional 50% tariff on a group of Canadian imports, including plywood sheets, packing crates and some agricultural machinery, while placing other Canadian goods, including carpet and certain valves, under the same levy. The changes take effect Oct. 30, four days before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

The White House said the move would offset “the burden to U.S. commerce while better serving the public interest.” The exemptions cover goods used mainly in agriculture, including certain machinery and refrigeration products, packaging and plywood sheets, according to documents posted on the White House website. At the same time, a 50% tariff will be placed on other Canadian goods, including carpet, certain valves and waste products.

The exemption follows a direct push from Sen. Susan Collins, the Maine Republican locked in a tight re-election race with Democratic challenger Troy Jackson. Collins said she had spoken with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick “about the toll tariffs are taking on Maine families, businesses, farmers, and growers.”

“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,” Collins said. She said she would keep seeking additional relief and a broader trade agreement with Canada, which she called “our neighbor, ally, and largest trading partner.”

Relief for Maine farmers, new costs for others

Collins’ office said the exemptions cover nine categories, including corrugated paper and boxes, some plastic packaging materials, refrigeration and freezing equipment, and seaweed products. Her office said the changes would support Maine’s blueberry, potato, apple and seaweed industries; it cited the example of wild blueberry growers who need specialized harvesting boxes from Canada that work with their processing equipment. She said she pressed Greer and Lutnick for the exemptions after breaking with the administration on tariffs.

The proclamation is the latest turn in the tariff war with Canada Trump opened this summer, when he applied 50% duties on about $20 billion in Canadian goods after last-minute talks broke down. Canada retaliated with tariffs of its own, and Trump later banned $1 billion in Canadian imports, including alcoholic beverages, dairy products and motorcycles, according to the AP.

Four days before the midterms

The timing is openly political: the changes take effect Oct. 30, four days before the Nov. 3 elections. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the move, said it was aimed at helping Collins in a state heavily reliant on trade with Canada. Jackson has made the trade war with Canada a central issue in the race, and the two are neck-and-neck in the polls heading into the final week, according to the Journal.

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, called it “Trump’s desperate, 11th hour attempt to save Susan Collins’ political career,” saying it was “an admission that American voters are rejecting his toxic tariff policies.”

The AP noted that Trump has claimed foreign countries pay his tariffs, when in fact U.S. importers pay them and often pass the costs to customers. It also cited an AP-NORC poll of 2,140 U.S. adults conducted Sept. 24-28 finding that 65% blame Trump’s policies for persistently high prices.

Reporting based on coverage by the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal and Reuters.