BANGOR, Maine — “I mean, yeah, thank you for the road salt,” Troy Jackson scoffed yesterday, mocking the news that road salt and cement would be exempt from U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods – an outcome Senator Susan Collins had strongly pushed the White House for directly.

Collins raised the issue after hearing from constituents across the state, and particularly in small towns near the Canadian border, which said the tariffs would hit them hard, increasing costs to those who live there and threatening cuts to basic services.

For example:

• The town of Frenchville, which reached out to Sen. Collins, saying taxpayers would face $10,000 in extra costs from tariffs, which could force them to cut basic services for 900 Mainers.
• Taxpayers in Fort Kent would have paid an additional cost of $50,000, in Caribou, up to $60,000, and Presque Isle, a cost of $65,000.
• Maine DOT, estimated taxpayers would have to pay $2 million more each year, just to keep roads safe in Aroostook County.
• A construction company owner in central Maine told Sen. Collins that he would have to pay $150,000 extra dollars a month for cement under the tariffs.
• A cement supplier told Sen. Collins that it would have to raise prices if the tariffs held, charging higher costs to Maine construction companies.

These numbers add up fast for small Maine towns and businesses, which is exactly why Collins listened and worked quickly to get the exemption.

Jackson’s response was to laugh it off.

Maybe Jackson thinks road salt and cement are a joke, but these additional costs mean the difference between a town staying on budget or cutting services. Senator Collins did the work. Jackson mocked it.

While Jackson pens op-eds, interviews on MSNOW, skips local press, and avoids debates, Collins is listening to Mainers and fixing problems.