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BANGOR — Political watchers in Atlantic Canada say the Democrats’ sweeping midterm election victory in the United States likely won’t provide immediate relief from tariffs.
The trade war with Canada became a ballot-box issue in several races in states along the border and Democrat victories there are seen as a rebuke to the policies of Republican President Donald Trump.
In Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson unseated long-standing incumbent Republican senator Susan Collins. Both say the U.S.-Canada trade war has hit their state’s economy hard and that tariffs should be removed.
Some Jackson voters said tariffs on Canada played a role in their decision, accusing Collins of not doing enough to curtail Trump.
But Donald Wright, a political science professor at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, said Trump still has the executive powers he used to enact the tariffs and he isn’t likely to back off because of election results.
Instead, he said the president could take the result as an excuse to punish Maine by ramping up the levies on Canadian goods.
Last month, in the lead-up to Tuesday’s midterms, Trump exempted some Canadian forestry products and agricultural equipment from his 50-per-cent levies in an attempt to help Collins.
“A vindictive president might want to hurt Maine … he could re-implement some of the tariffs that he lifted,” Wright said in an interview.
Scott Matthews, head of the political science department at Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador, said Canada may have lost an advocate in Collins.
Without Collins, the Republicans lose one of their moderate voices in Washington, Matthews said by phone.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said Wednesday morning that her Liberal government is “looking forward to building relationships” with newly elected U.S. officials.
Holt, in a brief statement to The Canadian Press, said she expects “their leadership will result in improved trade conditions for (New Brunswick) entrepreneurs and workers.”
Meanwhile, Trump told Fox News on Tuesday that “a great deal” with Canada was imminent. For his part, Prime Minister Mark Carney said the two sides have “made progress” after the U.S. backed down on some of its demands.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2026.
— With files from The Associated Press
Eli Ridder, The Canadian Press
