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Susan Collins represents Maine in the U.S. Senate. She is the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
This column was adapted from Collins’ speech on the Senate floor Wednesday opposing the Trump administration’s emergency tariffs on Canadian goods.
I rise today in support of the resolution introduced by my colleague from Virginia, Sen. Tim Kaine, to overturn the emergency declaration for the northern border that is being used to impose tariffs on goods imported from Canada.
The Maine economy is integrated with Canada, our most important trading partner. From home heating oil, gasoline, jet fuel and other refined petroleum products, to Maine’s paper mills, forest products businesses, agricultural producers and lobstermen, the tariffs on Canada would be detrimental to many Maine families and our local economies.
Of course, I share the president’s goal of stemming the tide of dangerous fentanyl that flows into the United States. I commend him for taking far stronger actions to halt this dangerous and deadly flow than did the previous administration. I do not, however, agree with his invoking the powers of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs on Canadian goods and products. The fact is, the vast majority of fentanyl in America comes from the southern border. In fiscal year 2024, less than 1 percent of fentanyl seizures occurred at our northern border, and our Canadian neighbors are working collaboratively and cooperatively with our government to stop that trafficking.
One of the best examples of the intertwined relationship between Maine’s economy and Canada can be seen at the Twin Rivers paper mill in Madawaska, way in the north, on the Canadian border. Twin Rivers produces lightweight specialty paper for packaging materials, for our nation’s newspapers and our retailers’ catalogs, for food and environmentally safe papers used in restaurants, and for a wide variety of other paper goods that are used all over the country. The raw pulp for this paper mill in Maine is piped across the St. John River, from Edmundston, New Brunswick, to Madawaska. There literally is a pipeline through which the pulp travels between these two sister mills.
A tariff placed on this pulp would jeopardize the financial well-being of this vital paper mill, which employs more than 500 people in rural northern Maine. There is not another big employer in that area that could possibly compensate for the loss of those 510 direct jobs. And that doesn’t include the indirect jobs: the truck drivers, the restaurant owners who would be harmed by the closure or reduction in the operation of this vitally important mill. The tariff would not only devastate Twin Rivers, but also harm hundreds of Maine families.
Another example of our integration with Canada is in energy. Ninety-five percent of the heating oil that is used by most Mainers to heat their homes comes from refineries in Canada. Irving Oil, a Canadian-based company, has 150 gas stations in Maine and supplies two-thirds of the state’s gas, diesel and heating oil. This includes 100 percent of the jet fuel that is used by the Air National Guard Base in Bangor. Maine consumers, Maine businesses and the U.S. Department of Defense, our own Department of Defense, would bear the cost of that Canadian energy tariff.
Canadian tariffs would also harm many Maine farmers, lobstermen and fishermen. According to the Maine Potato Board, 90 percent of the potash, which is the fertilizer used for growing potatoes, is imported from Canada. Fertilizer accounts for 11 percent of total input costs to grow our great Maine potatoes. Tariffs on imports like fertilizer will only hurt Maine potato growers. I grew up in Aroostook County. I know these potato growers. I picked potatoes as a school child when I was growing up.
Just recently, a farmer from Mars Hill told me that just the threat of tariffs is causing a price increase on seed and equipment. This farmer supplies potatoes to a Canadian company with facilities on both sides of the border. The different facilities have specialized equipment to process potatoes for different uses — hash browns in one plant, curly fries in another. A tariff on potatoes as they cross back and forth between Maine and Canada would cause terrible harm to this and other growers
Other products are processed back and forth across the border as well. For example, many Maine blueberries are processed on Prince Edward Island. Maine also sends between $200 million and $400 million worth of lobster to Canada each year for processing. There are 240 lobster processing plants in Canada, but only 15 in the United States.
I share the president’s goal of getting more of that manufacturing done in the state of Maine, done in the United States, but the fact is that if we impose these tariffs on Canadian processing, it’s going to be our Maine lobstermen who will bear the cost; it’s going to be consumers who bear the cost.
I would like to make mention of another industry that would be affected as well, and that is the aquaculture industry. In Washington County, in far-eastern Maine, Cooke Aquaculture is one of the largest employers, with more than 200 direct jobs throughout the state. While it has a processing plant in Machias, the first step of its salmon processing occurs in Canada before reentering the United States for finishing. At a time when the Maine aquaculture industry is growing, these tariffs on Canada would jeopardize current jobs and also block future ones.
Close relationships between and among families on both sides of the border are very common in the state of Maine. It is typical of communities, ranging from Calais in the east, Fort Kent in the north and Jackman in the west. You see it all across the northern, eastern and western parts of our state, because our communities are so integrated. It is not surprising to me that I had a conversation with members of the tourism industry in Maine just this morning, who told me that they’re seeing cancellations by Canadian tourists, who have come for years to vacation in Maine. Old Orchard Beach, for example, is known for the number of Canadian tourists.
We don’t want to discourage these Canadian tourists who are so vital to Maine’s economy from vacationing in Maine because they are so angry at what has happened. Maine families benefit from more than $900 billion in goods and services that are exchanged between our two countries every year. It is crucial that we remain a dependable and vibrant global trading partner, particularly with Canada.
Now, I want to distinguish that I think there is a strong case to be made for tariffs on Mexico, on our adversary, China, but I don’t see the case for Canada. There are areas where Canada does need to do better, and the dairy industry is one. And I hope that we will see that result.
And let me conclude my remarks by reaffirming my support for ensuring that the Department of Homeland Security has every tool at its disposal to stem the flow of fentanyl into our nation. But unlike Mexico and China, Canada is not complicit in this crisis, and we should continue working with our Canadian allies to secure the northern border, not unfairly penalize them. Our consumers, our manufacturers, our lobstermen, our blueberry growers, our potato farmers will pay the price.
The price hikes that will happen for Maine families, every time they go to the grocery store, they fill their gas tank, they fill their heating oil tank, if these tariffs go into effect, will be so harmful. And as price hikes always do, they will hurt those the most who can afford them the least. Therefore, I will support this resolution, and I urge my colleagues to do so likewise.
