Sen. Susan Collins criticized President Donald Trump’s steep tariffs on Canadian goods during a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday, joining a Democratic-led effort to block the import taxes hours after Trump blasted her on social media for being disloyal.

Trump announced a sweeping imposition of tariffs of at least 10% — with higher rates for dozens of countries — on imports of all international goods during an event in the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday afternoon.

The tariffs could have a significant impact on Maine, since Canada is the state’s largest trading partner, providing 80% of the state’s gasoline and heating fuel, and has strong cross-cultural ties.

State officials have warned that Trump’s on-and-off approach to tariffs is making it difficult for the state to predict economic conditions over the next year or two — a key component for projecting state revenues during the Legislature’s budget negotiations.

In a nearly 14-minute floor speech Wednesday, Collins, R-Maine, said she would support a resolution sponsored by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., that calls for ending the national emergency Trump declared on Feb. 1, which forms the basis for his tariffs on Canadian goods.

Collins was one of a handful of Republican senators who voted for the resolution, which squeaked through the chamber on a 51-48 vote Wednesday. Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas did not vote.

In her floor speech, Collins said the tariffs would raise the prices Mainers pay for food, gasoline and home heating fuel, and threaten a wide range of industries that employ hundreds of Mainers, including paper mills, forest products, lobstermen, blueberry growers and potato farmers. She noted that about $900 billion worth of goods cross the border every year.

“It is crucial that we remain a (dependable) and vibrant local trading partner, particularly with Canada,” Collins said. “I think there’s a strong case to be made for tariffs on Mexico and on our adversary China, but I don’t see the case for Canada.”

Maine’s other senator, independent Angus King, also voted for the measure. King said the idea that tariffs come as a retaliation for drug trafficking from Canada “doesn’t pass the straight-face test.” He charged that the tax hikes would isolate the United States and undermine its economy.

“Launching a trade war with Canada will harm Maine families and many key industries our state relies upon like the lobster fishery and agriculture,” King said in a written statement Wednesday.

Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate, so the resolution needed four Republicans to join Democrats. But it faces an uncertain future in the House of Representatives, which Republicans narrowly control. And if it passes there, it would be vetoed by Trump anyway.

Collins has a complicated relationship with Trump. She has not supported any of his presidential campaigns and voted to convict him for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol Building, while still providing support at key moments in his presidency. And though she has criticized his recent moves to freeze federal funding without congressional approval, her floor speech Wednesday was an unusual public rebuke of the president, who in the past has threatened to support a primary challenger against her.

Prior to Collins’ speech, Trump took aim at her and the three other Republican senators who joined the effort — Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, both of Kentucky — telling them to “get on the Republican bandwagon, for a change.”

Paul is a co-sponsor of the resolution, while Murkowski told Politico she plans to support it. Politico reported that Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa has expressed concerns about the tariffs’ effect on farming. Grassley and Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas were noncommittal when asked Tuesday, Politico reported.

In a social media post shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday, Trump accused the quartet of being “unbelievably disloyal” to Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune and urged his supporters to contact each senator’s office to pressure them to fall in line and “FINALLY adhere to Republican Values and Ideals.”

“The Senate Bill is just a ploy of the Dems to show and expose the weakness of certain Republicans, namely these four, in that it is not going anywhere because the House will never approve it and I, as your President, will never sign it,” Trump said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., urged Republicans to remain strong amid Trump’s attacks. Schumer said Trump’s tariffs would be a “sledgehammer” on the nation’s economy by unleashing “the most reckless tsunami of tariffs Americans have seen in over half a century.”

“I know Donald Trump is pushing my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to vote it down,” Schumer said in a floor speech. “But my Republican colleagues should tune Donald Trump out. They need to stand up to the president when he’s hurting American families so badly. Our Republican colleagues know deep down in their hearts these tariffs are wrongheaded and harmful and chaotic. I hope they do the right thing.”

FENTANYL AND BORDER SECURITY

Trump has said the tariffs are needed to force Canada to stop the flow of fentanyl and illegal immigrants across the border.

But the vast majority of fentanyl and other illicit drugs flow through the southern border, and Canadian officials have already beefed up border security in response to Trump’s previous tariff threats.

Trump has repeatedly spoken about annexing Canada and making it the 51st state. While some have laughed off the suggestion, Canadian officials believe that Trump is serious and that his tariffs are actually aimed at weakening the Canadian economy, ostensibly making it easier for the U.S. to annex the country.

Canadian officials plan to retaliate with tariffs of their own.

Collins pushed back against Trump’s claim that fentanyl was pouring across the northern border, saying that less than 1% of fentanyl seizures occurred along the Canadian border.

“I commend (Trump) for taking far stronger actions to halt this dangerous and deadly flow than did the previous administration,” Collins said. “The fact is the vast majority of fentanyl in America comes from the southern border. … And our Canadian neighbors are working collaboratively and cooperatively with out government to stop that traffic.”

Collins said she supports Trump’s desire to bolster American manufacturing but his use of tariffs would only hurt Maine families and businesses.

“If these tariffs go into effect it will be so harmful and, as price hikes always do, they will hurt those the most who can afford them the least,” she said.

Staff Writer Daniel Kool contributed.

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