Vice President JD Vance told a Maine crowd Monday that he believed the U.S. and Canada were close to a trade agreement before talks collapsed, blaming Canada for making “unreasonable” last-minute demands.
At one point, Vance referred to Canada as “a state” before catching himself. “Sorry. Freudian slip.” As the crowd laughed and hooted in a nod to President Donald Trump’s insistent remarks about the country becoming the 51st state, he said, “That was actually an accident.”
Trump has argued Canada would be “much better off” as a state and warned it can no longer rely on U.S. military protection. Vance echoed that in Brewer, saying Canada is “a backdoor for Chinese goods” that eventually make their way into the U.S. He said he had expected an agreement easing trade disputes by now.
The comments came two days after Trump’s 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion of Canadian goods took effect. The list of affected products is long, ranging from hockey sticks and wine to honey, furniture and agricultural goods. Many leading politicians in Maine, including Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and most Democrats, oppose tariffs.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney promised “dollar for dollar” retaliation beginning Sept. 8, targeting U.S. steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper and electronics. Trump threatened on social media to raise tariffs on Canadian automobiles, auto parts and steel to 50% starting next year, writing that “Canada has been ripping off the United States of America for years.”
Carney said the demands confirmed Canada’s fears that Trump was seeking to dismantle its auto industry, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford said his province was prepared to cut off electricity and critical minerals to the U.S. if the dispute worsens.
Speaking Saturday at the Madison-Anson parade, Collins, who is facing Democrat Troy Jackson in one of the nation’s biggest elections this year, called the new tariffs a mistake. She said she has lobbied the Canadian ambassador to drop high tariffs on dairy that Vance referenced in his Maine speech.
“I still think imposing new tariffs on Canada is a mistake,” Collins said. “We produce a lot in Maine — our blueberries, our potatoes, our lobster, our lumber — that is processed across the border. If it comes back with a huge tariff on it, perhaps as much as 50%, that increases the cost of eating, building homes, and hurts our merchants and our best-known products.”
No further U.S.-Canada talks are currently scheduled. Steeper tariffs typically trickle down to consumers through higher prices, and analysts have warned the dispute could ripple across industries on both sides of the border as the cost of living remains a central issue heading into the November elections that Democrats are trying to turn into a referendum on Trump.
Jackson is among them, although he echoed Collins’ point on Maine goods that cross the border at a Saturday appearance in Belfast, saying the tariffs are only helping “a select few that know how to play the market” when Trump levies new tariffs.
“The rest of us are hurting by it,” he said.
Story by Associated Press writers Wyatte Grantham-Philips and Rob Gillies. BDN writer Michael Shepherd contributed to this report.