Debates over President Donald Trump’s tariff policies are a balancing act for Maine Republicans representing areas economically intertwined with Canada.
On the one side are skeptics like U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. Over the weekend, Collins said the Republican president’s initial plan to impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico would create “a significant burden” on families and key industries, while noting 95 percent of Mainers’ heating oil along with military jet fuel used in Bangor comes from Canada.
On the other side are grassroots, state-level Republicans who on Tuesday applauded the president’s negotiating tactics while not explicitly endorsing all aspects of his tariff plan.
It is a reminder of the economic and political tension that has existed at times between Maine and Canada. The fluid developments on tariffs will serve as only one part of broader trade talks expected under Trump, especially with a multinational deal up for review in 2026.
On Monday, Trump and leaders of America’s two neighbors — and its top two trading partners — changed course and announced a 30-day pause on the new tariffs, which Trump also said would feature an additional 10 percent levy on Canadian oil, natural gas and electricity. His 10 percent tariff on China remains in effect, with the Asian power already retaliating with tariffs that bring back memories of a 2018 trade war.
The pause came after Mexico’s president pledged to send 10,000 troops to the southern border and Canada’s prime minister pledged to launch a “joint strike force” to combat crime, fentanyl and money laundering, among other measures. The three countries’ leaders said the 30 days allow for further talks on drug smuggling and illegal immigration.
Trump’s strategy “appears to be a pretty effective tool,” Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart, R-Presque Isle, said during a Tuesday afternoon State House news conference focused on solar subsidies and the GOP’s repeated efforts to repeal Maine’s net energy billing program.
“I was a little bit hesitant to support the whole plan in terms of increasing costs because of the backlash it could have,” said Stewart, who had backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in his 2024 presidential primary race against Trump. “[But] it worked. It is working right now, and I gotta give the guy credit.”
Stewart otherwise argued Canada has unfairly hurt his northern Maine constituents. He referenced his Monday Facebook post in which he said Canadian power firms “have been jacking up prices for years, even when their production costs have remained steady.” Stewart also met last week in Augusta with the Boston-based consul general of Canada and Quebec’s New England delegate for a “tough but important conversation” on tariffs and border security.
Stewart said he had also previously asked Canadian power company representatives why they are “engaging in price gouging,” to which he said they replied, “Because we can.”
“Frankly, they’ve been screwing us for a while,” Stewart added at Tuesday’s news conference.
Although the numerous Republican lawmakers who stood on each side of Stewart largely nodded or expressed similar sentiment on Trump’s tariff strategy Tuesday, not all members of the Legislature’s minority party approve of the president’s trade tactics.
The conservative Tax Foundation estimated the tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China — if they collectively took effect — would increase taxes by $1.1 trillion between 2025 and 2034, leading to a U.S. household seeing an average tax increase of more than $800 this year. The Tax Foundation also noted Trump’s first administration imposed nearly $80 billion worth of new taxes on Americans by levying tariffs on thousands of products in 2018 and 2019.
“There will be times when I disagree with the president over the next four years, and this is one of them,” Rep. Amy Arata, R-New Gloucester, who lost her bid in November to continue as the No. 2 House Republican, said. “Most economists agree that tariffs have a net negative impact, and I expect that to be true for Maine in particular.”
Although the Canada and Mexico tariffs are on hold, the new 10 percent tax on China and China’s resulting retaliation could be felt in Maine in different ways, as was the case in 2018 and 2019 when lobstermen and wild blueberry farmers saw negative effects. For example, Heath Miller of the Maine Dairy Industry Association said China is American dairy’s “biggest emerging market.” Dairy farms that have struggled in Maine also use plenty of fuel and fertilizers imported from Canada, Miller said.
Still, legislative Republicans who have made gains at the State House that resulted in Democrats no longer holding any seats in Aroostook and Washington counties said they believe in Trump. Sen. Marianne Moore, R-Calais, admitted the initial tariff plan was “very much a concern” given her area borders Canada.
“But I trust President Trump and what he’s doing,” Moore said Tuesday. “We all know that we have a huge fentanyl problem in the United States, and it’s coming from our southern border, and it’s coming from our northern border, and whatever it’s going to take, we need to do that negotiating … to keep that out of our country.”
