Delegation warns that trade tiff is hurting Maine small business
File photos / Courtesy of subjects
Members of Maine's congressional delegation are using the FCC to take action to protect 207 as Maine's only area code.
Maine's congressional delegation is urging the Trump administration to avoid "subjecting Maine to harm" from an ongoing transatlantic trade dispute.
U.S. Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, and Susan Collins, R-Maine; U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, and Jared Golden, D-2nd District, have laid out their concerns to U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer in a Jan. 8 letter.
"We are writing to reiterate our concerns regarding the effect on the State of Maine of the current trade dispute between the United States and the European Union," they wrote. "There has been an immediate strain on U.S. companies in the specialty foods and hospitality industries that import these products, many of which are small, locally owned businesses."
The plea comes less than three months after the U.S. imposed punitive tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of wine, cheese, olive oil and other imports from the 28-member EU in retaliation for years of illegal subsidies to French aerospace manufacturer Airbus.
Maine imported $769 million from the EU and exported nearly $370 million in goods and services in 2019, making the bloc the state's second-largest export market, according to data from the Maine International Trade Center cited in the delegation's letter.
To remedy the harm to businesses from the recently imposed tariffs, the four lawmakers are urging the administration “to strive quickly for a solution that protects U.S. industry and jobs and promotes economic growth."
King added via email to Mainebiz that "we should be supporting Maine people who’ve worked hard to build small businesses, not snatching their livelihoods out from under them. There’s got to be a better approach to help address illegal trade practices without undermining our own people so dramatically.”
At Tuesday's Mainebiz Five on the Future 2020 forum, panelists said that tariffs and trade uncertainty in general are having a big effect on everything from retail business to construction in the state.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments