Maine Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson on Wednesday mocked his rival in the race for celebrating road salt exemptions from U.S. tariffs placed on Canada.
During a campaign event following an endorsement from the Maine Education Association, the state’s largest union, Jackson was pressed on whether he had any comment on President Donald Trump’s administration granting exemptions for road salt and a few other items for companies in Maine. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who is in a tight race for reelection against Jackson, had pressed for the exemptions, touting “road salt and cement as two products crucial to Maine that would be severely affected” by Trump’s latest round of tariffs on Canada.
“I mean, yeah, thank you for the road salt. But I mean, is that in the end going to feed people’s families and put oil in the tank and things like that?” Jackson told reporters. “I would just think that someone that is the most powerful senator in the United States Senate would be able to do more than get us road salt back.”
“What has she done to stand up, to get Trump to back off of parts coming in from Canada, fertilizer coming in from Canada for farmers? I mean, what has she done to make sure that cross-border tourism — I mean, a place like Madawaska have no more Canadians coming over?” he added. “I mean, all these things are killing our economy.”
Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Aug. 22 on many Canadian goods after trade negotiations between the countries broke down a day earlier. Canada responded with retaliatory tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. products targeting goods including steel, dairy products, appliances, agricultural equipment, and electronics.
Collins has argued that Trump’s tariffs ignored the impact they would have on border states like Maine that are heavily reliant on trade with Canada.
“Take road salt, we get all of our road salt from Canada, and for a small town like Frenchville in Northern Aroostook County, a town of about 900 people, that’s an extra $10,000 a year,” Collins said during a visit to the Maine Energy Marketers Association Technical Education Center last week.
The Republican senator, who has long spoken out against tariffs on Canada, said she has personally spoken with Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer about reopening talks with Ottawa and de-escalating the trade war.
“I think the administration has very much underestimated the impact on Maine families, on small manufacturers, on our agricultural products,” Collins told Politico in an interview published Tuesday. “And that’s what I’m trying my best to educate them about. They look at this issue as a macro issue. And in fact, the micro impact on a state like Maine is considerable.”
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The Maine Senate race is one of the tightest in the country, revolving around a seat Democrats hope Jackson can flip blue. Polls paint a razor-thin race, as Republicans hope that Collins, a centrist lawmaker who has held the seat for nearly 30 years, can once again pull off a win.
Jackson became Democrats’ nominee in July, replacing Graham Platner at the top of the ticket after the former candidate became embroiled in scandal. Platner suspended his campaign after his ex-girlfriend accused him of rape, and another ex claimed he was toxic and emotionally abusive.