WASHINGTON — President Trump got some rare Democratic support in his trade war with Canada from retiring Maine Rep. Jared Golden, whose district shares a border with America’s northern neighbor.
Golden (D-Maine), who has backed some of Trump’s hardline antics on trade in the past, warned Canada that it won’t win a trade war with the US.
“If Canada thinks they’re better off without our goods, I wish them good luck,” Golden told the Portland Press Herald. “I suspect in the long run, it won’t go well for them.”
The retiring congressman represents Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, which backed Trump during the past three elections. Golden previously supported Trump’s tariffs on Canada earlier this year.
Late last week, Trump slapped a 50% tariff on $20 billion worth of goods from Canada, including beer, cheese, electronics, and more. That came after trade talks between the two countries broke down.
Canada’s top officials rolled out a plan Tuesday to match Trump dollar for dollar starting Sept. 8, with a slew of tariffs ranging from 15 to 50% on some 700 different types of American products.
The Trump administration has vowed to retaliate if those countermeasures take effect.
Canada is America’s top trading partner, but the trade makes up a much larger percentage of its economy than it does for the US.
Golden is one of a handful of House Democrats who hail from a swing district. He declined to seek another term, citing threats his family has faced.
“America’s broken trade order decimated domestic manufacturing and Maine’s heritage industries, all to uphold a system where we consume far more than we produce,” Golden said earlier this year after the Supreme Court nixed Trump’s International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs.
“Tariffs remain a proven tool to restore balance and tilt the scales back in favor of American manufacturing.”
Almost all of Maine’s congressional delegation has criticized the trade feud with Canada, including Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who warned it could wreak havoc on Maine’s lobstermen.
On Tuesday, Trump fumed on Truth Social that of all the trade disputes he’s navigated, “Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable.”
“They feel entitled, but they are not a State, and will be entitled no longer!” he added.
On Thursday, he signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario, which sits between upstate New York and Canada, to “Lake America.”
