Trump tariffs have brought some lumber industry back to the US, but industry seeing tight profit marginspublished at 18:26 GMT
18:26 GMT
Helena Humphrey
North America correspondent, in Maine
Logging is big business here in Maine and one that’s got
more expensive with President Trump‘s tariffs and soaring diesel costs.
Mike LeBrun is a general manager of Pleasant River Lumber
sawmill. He tells me tariffs have brought some lumber industry back to the US.
But, he notes “it’s difficult to see how a young man
would want to go into the woods to make a living these days”.
That’s because, he says, the industry as a whole is seeing
tighter profit margins.
That hasn’t, however, meant loggers are automatically
flocking to Democrat senate candidate Troy Jackson, himself a fifth-generation
logger.
“We don’t make much of his logging credentials,” LeBrun
says.
Republican incumbent, Senator Susan Collins, has held her seat
since 1997.
She has a reputation for bringing federal funds back to the
Pine Street tree state. Still, the race is close and LeBrun says many Mainers
feel she’s “like McDonald’s – not the best but not the worst”.
There’s a lot to play for here. If Democrats want to take
control of the Senate, they’re likely to need victory in this seat.