Trump's Canada Tariffs Roil Border-State Senate Races — SkimNews
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- Trump's tariffs on Canada have become a campaign flashpoint across at least six northern border states, with candidates citing concrete local impacts: Canadian road salt and concrete in Maine, disappearing Canadian tourists in New Hampshire, Labatt beer and fertilizer costs in Michigan and Montana, and Idaho dairy exports (nearly 40% of the state's exports go to Canada).
- Eight U.S. Senate seats in Canada-bordering states are up this cycle — nearly a quarter of the chamber — making the bilateral fight unusually consequential for the balance of power in Congress.
- Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers (Republican) released a commercial holding a Labatt beer declaring "Canada is not the enemy" and calling to end the tariff war, a reversal from his earlier support for Trump's trade policies.
- Polling by HarrisX and Harvard's Center for American Political Studies ranks tariffs lowest in popularity among 14 Trump administration policies, with voters naming them the top driver of inflation; separately, roughly 60% of Americans told pollsters they prefer a positive Canada relationship over protectionism, and two-thirds view bilateral trade as fair.
- Montana Republican Senate candidate Kurt Alme defended the Canada fight on Q2 News, saying "somebody needed to stand up and push back," even as American Pulse Research polling showed nearly 60% of Montana Republicans said they had been personally hurt by tariffs.
- Idaho independent Senate candidate Todd Achilles is challenging incumbent Republican Jim Risch partly on the Canada issue, noting that 40% of Idaho exports go north and framing the dispute as evidence the country has lost its bearings: "we're buying diesel from the Russians and we're prohibiting trade with Canadians?"
- U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra warned Canada against interfering in U.S. politics, underscoring how the bilateral fight has spilled into open election-season rhetoric on both sides of the border.
Why it matters: Eight Senate seats in Canada-bordering states — nearly a quarter of the chamber — are in play this cycle, and roughly 60% of Americans tell pollsters they prefer a good Canada relationship over protectionism, with tariffs ranking last among 14 Trump policies tested. Michigan Republican Mike Rogers's on-camera reversal on the tariff war shows even GOP candidates in tight races now read the issue as cutting against them.
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