President Donald Trump’s latest trade policies are creating new political headaches for Republicans, threatening their efforts to address voters’ economic concerns less than three months from the midterm elections.
In the past week, Trump escalated a costly trade war with Canada and allowed cheap beef imports to flood the U.S. market, angering many in his party who believe his policies are harming key industries and making things more expensive for consumers and businesses alike.
The GOP opposition was public and swift, and included Republican candidates and party leaders.
“We’ve got 71 days [until the election], and right now we don’t have a positive message to sell farm country, and we haven’t since Liberation Day last year,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) told reporters at the Capitol on Monday, referring to the sweeping tariffs Trump announced on many countries last year.
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Many Republicans in Congress disagree with the president’s reliance on tariffs, but for the most part they have deferred to give him some space to see whether they work over time. But these latest announcements — in the middle of a heated campaign season — triggered a more blunt response about the impacts.
“Besides being good neighbors, Canada is also North Dakota’s largest export market, making any deterioration of our trade relationship needlessly painful for North Dakotans,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) said in a statement to NOTUS. “Canada is not China, and our policies ought to reflect the strategic benefits we get from having strong economies, bolstered by free and fair trade, on both sides of the border. However, I am confident things will get on track.”
After trade negotiations between the Trump administration and Canada broke down over the weekend, Trump imposed tariffs on about $28 billion in Canadian imports and vowed to impose additional levies on cars, trucks, automotive parts and steel if a deal isn’t reached by Jan. 1, 2027. Canada retaliated with its own tariffs on U.S. goods and is now looking overseas to other trading partners like the European Union.
The trade spat will be felt particularly in states along the U.S.-Canadian border, including Maine, where vulnerable Republican Sen. Susan Collins is battling for election to a sixth term.
“Imposing tariffs on Canada is a mistake,” Collins reiterated during a campaign stop Monday, asserting that Trump’s policies would hurt U.S. businesses and raise the price of lobsters, blueberries, lumber and other Maine products.
“I really want us to go back to the very friendly, economically beneficial relationship that we have with our Canadian neighbors,” she said.
Collins skipped a rally with Vice President JD Vance in Brewer, Maine, on Monday, citing a scheduling conflict. At the event, Vance defended the administration’s tariffs and urged the Canadian government to “stop taking advantage of the people of Maine” by implementing a fairer trade policy.
In New Hampshire, another state that shares a border with Canada, John Sununu, the top Republican Senate contender, said a trade war “makes no sense” and urged the Trump administration to work out a deal.
“Canada is an ally. They’re an important trading partner, fairly important to travel and tourism,” Sununu, a former U.S. senator, told WKBK radio. “We shouldn’t have tariffs on building materials. Housing costs are being driven by inflation in building materials, and we don’t need to add tariffs on top of that.”
Trump’s policies are also putting Republican candidates on the defensive in Michigan, Ohio and Alaska, states that count Canada as an important trading partner.
In Michigan, Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed accused Trump of escalating a trade fight with Canada “for his own vanity,” adding that his Republican opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers, is a “rubber stamp” for his policies.
“Even before this new round, Canadian tariffs were costing Michigan families an additional $3,200 a year. It’s going to get much worse,” El Sayed wrote in a post online. Rogers has defended Trump’s use of tariffs as a means to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.
Polls show voters have major concerns about Trump’s handling of the economy, including cost increases driven by his war with Iran. The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll showed just 33 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance, the lowest mark of his second term.
Many Republicans also criticized Trump’s decision to import tariff-free beef, which he argued is needed to lower consumer prices. But critics said it would harm American ranchers.
Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 Senate Republican, wrote in a post online: “Americans want US beef on the table — not foreign imports.” He added: “Wyoming ranchers produce the highest quality beef in the world. Our ranchers don’t ask for special treatment. They simply want a fair marketplace. It needs to be easier — not harder — for Wyoming ranchers to feed America.”
Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson, a Republican running in one of the most competitive Senate races, called it a “bad idea” that would harm her constituents.
“We grow the highest quality beef here in Iowa, and so absolutely I’ll be advocating to the administration because I think we need to be focusing on growing the herd the right way,” she told reporters at the Iowa State Fair on Monday.
But Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vermont), whose state also borders Canada, said Republicans needed to do more than simply criticize Trump’s economic policies by wresting back congressional authority to levy tariffs. A narrow bipartisan Senate majority has voted several times to roll back Trump’s tariffs over the past year, but the Republican-controlled House has ignored that effort.
Trump “has met his match” with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Welch added.
“Carney has decided to stand up to a bully … and what we need in this country is Republicans to stand up to that same bully,” Welch said in an interview with NOTUS. “My Republican colleagues do not support tariffs. They know they’re hurting their consumers and their businesses, and they know the president has no authority to impose them — literally none.”
The Constitution gives Congress the power to levy tariffs, but both parties over time have ceded that authority to the executive.
“[Republicans are] backing down, and there’s going to be hell to pay in November as a result of that weak-kneed capitulation,” Welch said.
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