Maine governor calls Trump tariffs ‘a big tax heist’

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Atlantic provinces, U.S. states to discuss tariffs

Interview with governor of Maine

The current tariffs straining the long-standing trade relationship between Canada and the United States are nothing more than a “tax on American people, according to the governor of Maine.

“The president is taking trillions of dollars in so-called tariffs that are really taxes importing into the putting into the federal budget,” Gov. Janet Mills told CTV News Atlantic’s Todd Battis. “People are waking up and understanding that this is a big tax heist, as the Wall Street Journal described it.”

Mills says the tariffs are impacting Maine’s 176 craft breweries, its forestry sector and the seafood industry.

“Putting tariffs on lobster and seafood when these lobsters don’t know if they’re a Maine lobster or Canadian lobster, they go back and forth to be processed,” Mills says. “It’s really unfair and irrational.”

Next week Mills and other New England governors will meet in Boston to discuss trade and tariffs with six Canadian premiers. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy extended the invitation to the premiers last month.

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston will be in Boston to attend the BIO Boston International Convention – the largest biotechnology conference in the world – with more than 20,000 industry leaders. Seven companies from Nova Scotia are attending.

He will also meet with the governors to discuss “shared priorities,” said a provincial news release. Houston will host an event at the conference to showcase Nova Scotia’s commitment to the life science sector.

“Our ties to New England run deep, and Nova Scotia has a lot to offer – from expertise in the biotech sector, to high-quality seafood, to wind energy that can help power New England’s energy needs, and so much more,” said Houston.

New England’s energy needs could be a target for Nova Scotia’s recently announced offshore wind project.

Mills plans to reinforce the longstanding relationship her state has with the various provinces and discuss creative ways the two sides can maintain economic stability amid the trade war.

She will also tell Canadian leaders her intentions to continue pressuring congressional delegations in the northeastern United States to “take back their power” and stop “harming our deep seated relationship with Canada.”

Speaking with reporters Thursday, New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said she will be looking to encourage the New England governors to make it clear to the White House how tariffs are damaging both sides of the border.

“We can get those messages through to the people that we hope can influence the president,” says Holt. “To move off of his 50 per cent tariff on aluminum and his tariff on autos, and land in a place where we have the kind of free and open trade that we’ve had before.”

“I’ve been talking with small businesses up and down the coast and interior Maine who’ve always had friends and family come from Canada to visit in the summer,” says Mills. “Now they’re canceling reservations, and I hate to see that happen.”

The Maine government has been posting signs across Maine saying “Welcome” or “Bienvenue Canadiens!”

It’s a relationship that goes far beyond just business.

“Our families, cultures, cuisine, languages are all entwined,” Mills says, noting her family originally came from Pugwash, N.S. “Especially in Maine with a 611-mile border between [us], New Brunswick, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces.”

Nova Scotia exported $1.2 billion worth of goods to New England in 2024 and received $64 million in imports, said the provincial news release.