Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.
Well, the cost of living in much of America and here in Maine is just too high. The price of fuel, the cost of supplies, utilities, and labor have driven up expenses for Maine families and families across the country, and have driven up the budgets of just about every state in the country.
The new president, as you remember, campaigned on bringing down the price of eggs, bread, heat, housing, and cars, something that I support doing. But I believe his decision to impose tariffs on our major trading partners will do just the opposite. It will drive up the cost of everyday goods that Maine people rely on, and drive up the costs of small businesses.
On February 1st, the new president signed executive orders to impose a new 25% tariff on most imports from Canada and a 10% tariff on Canadian energy. You know, we have a 600-mile boundary with Canada, and it's our largest trading partner, and our economies are deeply intertwined. Last year alone, we traded more than $6 billion worth of goods and materials with Canada, most of that coming from Canada into Maine. And that trade helps many small businesses across Maine that produce things like potatoes, blueberries, lobsters, forest products, aircraft parts, housing, machinery. Businesses like Wyman's, Ready Seafood, Twin Rivers, Eimskip, for example, are all deeply connected to Canada.
Maine businesses and Maine people rely on Canada also as a major source of energy, from heating fuel, to gasoline, to natural gas, and electricity; more than 80% of Maine's heating fuel and gasoline is imported from Canada. And of course, we have no fossil fuel reserves of our own. Irving Oil from New Brunswick warned customers across New England this week that if the president's tariffs on Canada are enacted, they will increase prices. Maine's economy is most deeply intertwined with Canada's, but will also be significantly impacted by tariffs on China and Mexico because Maine trades more than $315 million worth of goods and materials with China and more than $165 million worth of goods and materials with Mexico each year.
The President has claimed these other countries will somehow pay these new tariffs, but the reality is that the increased costs will be paid by Maine people. When Maine businesses have to pay higher tariffs to import materials, they need, or building supplies, or to export their finished products, they will be forced to pass those costs along to Maine consumers at a time when we can least afford it. The president's new import tariffs could clearly result in higher prices on everything from fruits and vegetables, to flat screen TVs, to auto parts. And it will cause an estimated loss of more than $1,200 dollars annually in purchase power for the typical United States household.
The day the president's tariffs were set to go into effect, he decided suddenly to delay them for 30 days. This temporary reprieve may seem like some sort of relief, but what happens less than 30 days from now? The continued uncertainty and instability is what hurts businesses and people across the country and across the State of Maine. I've already seen the price of gas go up just in the last week, traveling around the state, at a time when we can ill afford it.
The president acknowledged that Americans "may feel some pain" as a result of these new tariffs he wants to impose. To me, that's a betrayal of the many people who believed that he would work to lower prices and bring down the cost of living, not increase it.
I certainly hope that after this 30 day delay, he makes up his mind not to pursue tariffs, which are taxes, basically, that will hurt Maine people and Maine small businesses in particular, and that he instead chooses to work with Congress to bring down the costs for all American people and American families.
This is Governor Janet Mills. Thank you for listening.