Gov. Janet Mills and three members of Maine's congressional delegation are predicting that tariffs on Canadian goods set to go into effect on Tuesday will seriously impact households and the state's economy.
After delaying his planned tariffs in February, President Trump said Monday afternoon that 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods coming into the U.S. will take effect on Tuesday. Canada and Mexico are expected to responding by slapping tariffs on some American-made products, raising concerns about a trade war among the neighbors.
An estimated $6 billion worth of goods flowed between Maine and Canadian provinces last year, according to figures from the Maine International Trade Center. More than $4.7 billion of that total was Canadian goods imported into Maine.
Mills told reporters on Monday outside of the Blaine House that tariffs on Canadian goods, combined with potential reciprocal tariffs from Canada, will have far-ranging impacts in this state.
For instance, Canada supplies most of the heating oil burned by Maine households and much of the gasoline sold in the state. And Mills said lumber and other forest products routinely go back and forth between Maine and Canada.
"As you know lobsters, they don't have a Made-in-Maine brand or Made-in-Canada brand," Mills said. "They go back and forth to be processed and come back to the United States, come back to Canada. So these tariffs affect Maine consumers. They are bound to affect the price of goods in all kinds of ways. And obviously they should be fought."
Mills also said she is not aware of statistics showing illicit shipments from Canada of fentanyl, the synthetic opioid linked to scores of overdose deaths in Maine and across the country. Trump has repeatedly said both Mexico and Canada must do more to stop fentanyl trafficking into the U.S.
"In fact, some of the Canadian premiers have told me that they wish Americans would stop bringing it across the border into Canada," Mills said. "I don't know what Canada did to make us unhappy with them, but this all seems to me to be not good public policy. And it is going to affect consumers' pocketbooks."
Three members of Maine's congressional delegation — Republican Sen. Susan Collins, independent Sen. Angus King and Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree from the 1st District — raised similar concerns in a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
"Given the deeply integrated nature of our economies, any tariffs on imports from Canada — and any retaliatory measures by Canada in response — may raise prices on gasoline, energy, groceries, and much more," the trio wrote late last week. "We acknowledge that targeted and strategic tariffs can be an important tool to address unfair trade practices. However, small businesses and families in Maine and across the country will be caught in the middle during a time when so many are struggling to put food on the table and keep the lights on."
Absent from the letter was 2nd District Congressman Jared Golden. The Democrat did not comment on the tariffs on Monday but he expressed support for Trump's tariff plans in February before the president put them on hold for a month. Golden has also put forward legislation calling for 10% across-the-board tariffs on all imports.
“President Trump campaigned on tariffs as a tool to level the playing field between American workers and industries and our foreign competitors,” Golden said in early-February. “I don’t agree with Trump on everything, but he’s right that the old deal stinks, and we need a new one. Tariffs push back against decades of free trade and globalization that prioritized low prices above all else. It was a race to the bottom that left America deep in trade debt and dependent on foreign nations and gutted our manufacturing sector, domestic supply chains, and entire middle-class communities."
Golden has said that any revenues resulting from the tariffs should be reinvested in American jobs and industries.
