The United States is expected to remove 50% tariffs on some Canadian agricultural and forestry products in a bid to help Maine Senator Susan Collins and other Republicans from northern states in the November 3 midterm elections, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. A proclamation altering the tariffs could come as early as Friday, according to the report.
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| Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who is seeking a sixth term. She announced that nine product categories, including blueberry, potato, apple and seaweed producers, would be exempted from U.S. tariffs on Canada. (Official portrait; file photo) |
The expected move marks a notable shift in Washington's months-long trade standoff with Ottawa, even as the administration cautions that no final announcement has been made. The standoff dates to August, when trade talks between the two countries broke down, triggering fresh tariffs on both sides of the border and retaliation from Canada.
What the Journal Reported
According to the Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the upcoming action, the United States is expected to remove 50% tariffs on some Canadian agricultural and forestry products. The Journal reported that the reductions could be balanced out by raising levies on other Canadian goods — meaning the overall tariff posture toward Canada may not soften as much as the headline cut suggests.
A White House official told the Journal that any tariff announcements would come directly from the administration and that any preliminary reporting is speculation. The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Commerce Department officials also declined to comment immediately. The caution from administration sources means the cut is not yet final — it remains an expected action, not a signed one.
Collins Announces Nine Exempted Categories
Senator Susan Collins issued a statement shortly after the Journal's report, saying that nine categories of products — including blueberry, potato, apple and seaweed producers — will be exempted from U.S. tariffs on Canada.
The Maine Republican is fighting for a sixth term in Democratic-leaning Maine, where the economy is deeply tied to cross-border trade with Canada. The Commerce Department did not immediately provide a comment on her announcement.
Collins's list reads like a roll call of Maine's signature industries. Wild blueberries are the state's most iconic crop, potato farming anchors the northern counties, and apple orchards and seaweed producers round out a rural economy that has been squeezed by the tariff war.
The Midterm Calculus
The Journal framed the expected tariff cut explicitly as election politics: a bid to help Collins and other Republicans from northern U.S. states in the November 3 midterms.
Republican candidates in northern border states most affected by the tariffs are trying to strike a delicate balance — appealing to President Donald Trump's loyal base while winning over independent voters who have felt the pinch of higher costs and trade disruption.
The stakes are high for the party's Senate map. The economies of Michigan and Maine have long been intertwined with Canada's, covering everything from auto parts to lumber to fruit-picking equipment. Republicans will likely need to win key Senate races in both states if they are to hold the U.S. Senate.
For Collins, who is seeking a sixth term in a state that leans Democratic, the tariff fight has been a persistent vulnerability. The August tariff escalation gave her opponents a ready-made attack line: that Republican trade policy was hurting Maine's farmers and workers. A tariff rollback on exactly the industries her state depends on would hand her a counterargument weeks before voters decide.
Trump's Trade-Deal Remark
President Trump said on Friday that Canada is working on a trade deal with the United States, a remark that arrived against the backdrop of the long-running standoff.
The two nations have been locked in a tariff war since talks broke down in August, with new levies and retaliation on both sides of the border. A genuine move toward a deal would represent the first real thaw since then — though Trump's comment was light on specifics, and the Journal's reporting suggests the immediate step is a targeted proclamation rather than a comprehensive agreement.
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| A wild blueberry harvest in Maine's Down East region. Blueberries are among the Maine farm products named in Senator Susan Collins's exemption announcement. (File photo) |
What This Means
Tariffs have been one of the Trump administration's favorite instruments of leverage — and one of its most politically volatile. The expected Canada move shows the administration is now calibrating that tool with the midterm map in mind.
The structure of the reported deal is telling. Cutting 50% tariffs on agricultural and forestry goods helps farmers and workers in the northern states where Republicans are on defense. But the Journal's note that the reductions could be offset by raising levies on other Canadian goods suggests the administration wants to keep its leverage intact — a reminder that this is a tactical adjustment, not a reversal of the tariff strategy.
There is also an honesty test built into the White House's own response. An administration official called the reporting speculation, and the White House did not respond to Reuters. That leaves room for the proclamation to change shape — or stall — between the Journal's report and the actual signature.
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| Freshly harvested potatoes in Maine. Potato producers are also among the nine categories Senator Collins said would be exempted from U.S. tariffs on Canada. (File photo: University of Maine) |
What Happens Next
The most immediate question is whether the proclamation materializes, and what exactly it covers. Collins named nine exempted product categories but detailed only four — blueberry, potato, apple and seaweed. The full list, and whether the offsetting levies on other Canadian goods appear alongside the cuts, will determine how meaningful the relief is for northern-state businesses.
Canada's response will matter too. Ottawa has retaliated against U.S. tariffs before, and any selective cut will test whether Canadian officials see a genuine opening or a political maneuver aimed at the November 3 vote.
For Republicans in Maine and Michigan, the timing is everything. With the midterms just days away, a signed tariff cut gives them something concrete to show voters. Without it, the Journal's report is just another headline in a trade war that has dragged on for months.
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