President Donald Trump will in 30 days impose a 50% tariff on a large list of goods imported from Canada in retaliation for what he calls Canada's unequal treatment of U.S. cars, dairy and alcohol.
Maine State Chamber of Commerce President Patrick Woodcock said he has seen the list of items that will be affected and two of the state's three dominant imports — energy, fisheries, and forest products — are not on the list.
"There are some forest products included on the list but they are mostly end-use products rather than the inputs like pulp that go into some of the main products that feed into our paper mills and manufacturing processes," Woodcock said.
The state chamber president said that he's hopeful that the two sides will resolve their differences before the tariffs take effect.
But Woodcock said the escalation of tariffs is troubling, and Canada's new relationship with China and the U.S. war with Iran makes any new trade policy complicated.
"It was a trade dispute last year," Woodcock said. "Trying to see how they can have a working relationship that doesn't have collateral damage for a trading partnership that is so important to Maine is going to be critical."
Trump is also imposing 10-12.5% tariffs on about 60 trading partners around the world who use forced labor to produce their products, affecting more than 99% of U.S. imports.
