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New Brunswick’s Trade Ties with Maine Could Sway the US Midterms

The province holds economic leverage over Republican senator Susan Collins’s re-election fight

Before 9/11, it was easy for most New Brunswickers to pop across the border to Maine to buy groceries or gas or to shop for discount clothing at an L. L. Bean outlet perhaps. Sometimes folks would forget their identification, and border guards would still wave them through. Other times, the border might be closed, and a driver would leave a note with their name at the booth, saying they were crossing into the United States but would be back in an hour and a half.

Recent tariffs and import bans have notably impacted both trade and civilian travel between New Brunswick and Maine

Raw products repeatedly cross the border between NB and Maine during processing, and energy dominates the trade relationship

Maine Republican representative Susan Collins is distancing herself from the Trump administration, but that may not save her seat come midterms

Even after the border hardened in 2001, New Brunswickers continued to travel to Maine in large numbers, lured by epic hiking at Acadia National Park or a beach vacation along Maine’s rugged coast. With the border just over an hour from Fredericton and Saint John—and with seventeen official crossings spanning the 513 kilometres between the two jurisdictions—New Brunswickers have often treated Maine like their own backyard.

Long-standing family relationships anchor communities on both sides of the border. Both jurisdictions share similar geographies, with spectacular coastlines, small cities in the south, and sparsely populated northern regions dominated by forests. Even their political complexion is comparable, says Tom Bateman, a professor of political science at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. Both are dominated by moderate political cultures, and both are currently led by women.

Now, as the fallout from the latest round of tariffs and import bans hits Canadians hard, New Brunswickers are avoiding Maine in record numbers. Many New Brunswick businesses are feeling the pinch as access to the American market is curtailed. But with Maine so reliant on the New Brunswick market—and so dependent on its power—the province could inflict major damage on the neighbouring state’s economy.

This gives Premier Susan Holt a vital role in the political drama unfolding south of the border, where........

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