Trump to remove 50% tariffs on some Canadian products

The White House has confirmed that some Canadian agricultural products will now be exempt from U.S. tariffs. The move comes with the U.S. midterms now just a week and a half away. Susan Collins has very openly been against many of the tariffs on Canadian agricultural and forestry-related products because that is a major part of her state's economy. They do a lot of business with Canada. They import a lot of this material and equipment from Canada. So she's been pushing for the White House to put in relief on these tariffs for some time. She finally got it now, and she made that official in a tweet today where she talked about exemptions on products crucial to Maine's agricultural industries. Specifically, she cited blueberries, potatoes, apples, seaweed, specialized equipment, packaging materials, and other products from Canada that are either unavailable from American suppliers or cannot be replaced without incurring significant expense. Later on in her post, she goes on to say in my repeated conversations with Ambassador Greer, Secretary Lutnick and other senior administration officials, I have asked for tariff relief for these important products and I will continue working directly with administration officials to seek additional relief and encourage a broader trade agreement with Canada, our neighbor, ally and largest trading partner. The White House has now confirmed this is true as well with a statement that they have issued their spokesperson, Matthew Middleton, writing, quote, President Trump continues to address Canada's discriminatory treatment of U.S. commerce. The president is taking action in response to Canada's continued discrimination against an additional retaliation targeting U.S. commerce with the goal of protecting American farmers, manufacturers and workers. So that's the spin that the White House is taking on. This is that Canada is still treating the U.S. very badly, as the president would say, on the trade front. And so they are retaliating against Canada's retaliatory tariffs to the initial tariffs. And they give a little bit more info as to what exactly today's announcement and the easing of tariffs means, because it also means the adding on when it comes to other products. So they say that they are countering Canada's discriminatory treatment of American exports by removing certain products such as plywood sheets, some paper products, certain machinery and refrigeration equipment, certain packing crates and boxes from the scope of the tariffs that have been implemented, replacing those products with all they say is certain valves, carpets, waste products and others. These might be items that don't necessarily target any state in particular, more generic, if you will, have less of an impact going into midterms. We do know that they come into effect October 30th, which is a week from today, next Friday.