Senator Susan Collins sent letters to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer this week demanding the Trump administration return to the negotiating table with Canada before retaliatory tariffs take effect Sept. 8. Collins, a Republican who has held Maine's Senate seat since 1997, warned that an escalating trade dispute threatens the businesses and workers her state depends on.
The letter's most specific warning centered on seafood. Collins wrote that more than 50 percent of Maine's lobster catch is processed in Canada, making the state's signature industry directly exposed to any breakdown in cross-border commerce. She argued that American families—not foreign governments—will absorb the costs of a prolonged dispute.
U.S.-Canada trade negotiations collapsed before a deal was reached, prompting President Trump to impose 50 percent tariffs on a broad range of Canadian goods. Canada announced retaliatory measures set to take effect Sept. 8. Collins urged the administration to resume talks and reach an agreement that stops the tariffs from going into effect.
Collins also described constituent concern that predates the current impasse. Since tariffs were first announced, she said, businesses, farmers and lobstermen have worried about the cost of operating under new rules, the absence of domestic supply chains capable of replacing Canadian partners, and the risk that Canada would respond in kind. That risk is now days away from becoming reality.
Collins is the only Republican senator seeking reelection in a state Trump lost in 2024, and she faces Democrat Troy Jackson in November in a race currently rated a toss-up. Recent polling shows Jackson with a narrow lead. Her letter is a direct appeal to Maine voters who depend on cross-border trade and puts her in direct conflict with a White House tariff policy most of her Republican Senate colleagues have supported.
John Sununu, a Trump-endorsed candidate competing for the Republican Senate nomination in New Hampshire, made a similar break. "We shouldn't be in a trade war with Canada," Sununu said on WKBK radio. "I would encourage the administration to work this out. Canada is an ally. They're an important trading partner, fairly important to travel and tourism in New Hampshire." New Hampshire, like Maine, leans toward Democrats in statewide elections, giving Sununu a similar political incentive to separate himself from the tariff fight.
The Canada trade dispute is also shaping the Senate race in Michigan, where Republican Mike Rogers faces Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in another toss-up. El-Sayed has pressed the tariff issue directly, arguing the duties carry heavy costs for Michigan and accusing Rogers of refusing to publicly oppose them. The Rogers campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Collins has a documented record of opposition to the tariff approach. In April 2025, she delivered floor remarks supporting a Senate resolution to end the emergency declaration underpinning Canadian tariffs. She joined a bipartisan group introducing the Trade Review Act of 2025, which would restore Congress's constitutional authority over tariff decisions—authority currently exercised by the executive branch. Earlier this year, she urged the administration to exempt fire truck orders from tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum after the levies threatened to add $80,000 to $90,000 to the cost of each truck.
Canada moved to remove fish and seafood products from its initial retaliatory list, a concession Collins specifically welcomed and used to press for broader negotiations. The exemption offered temporary relief for Maine's fishing industry but left the broader tariff standoff unresolved.
The political geography of the current Senate map gives the Canada dispute unusual weight for Republicans. The three states where the tariff fight is most visible in live Senate campaigns—Maine, New Hampshire and Michigan—are all toss-ups or Democratic-leaning. Republican incumbents and candidates in those states face a calculation that the Trump tariff position, popular in much of the country, carries specific downside risk for their particular electorates. Collins, with her November race tightening, is making a public bet that calling for negotiations plays better in Maine than party loyalty on trade.
