David Horner lives for lobster.
asserted
Horner → live → lobster
For half a century, day after day, he has taken his boat and headed into the cold waters of the North Atlantic off the coast of the US state of Maine, hauling the crustaceans from the ocean and bringing them ashore.
asserted
he → take → them
From there, they are loaded onto trucks, sent to processing facilities and shipped to restaurants around the world.
asserted
they → load → world
Recommended Stories
list of 4 items- list 1 of 4US Senate nominee Platner halts campaign after assault allegations
- list 2 of 4‘Foreign policy is the economy’: How Iran war is shaping US midterm vote
- list 3 of 4All you need to know about US midterms 2026
- list 4 of 4Tracking the money: The biggest donors in the 2026 US midterm elections
Horner has voted for United States President Donald Trump three times and stands by his vote.
asserted
Horner → halt → vote
He supports the president’s rollback of environmental regulations affecting commercial fishing operations like his own.
asserted
He → support → own
While he supports Trump on one policy, however, he’s disappointed in another – the president’s antagonistic approach to Canada, which borders Maine and is deeply entwined with the state’s lobster industry.
asserted
which → support → industry
“I never heard anything about all this Canadian animosity in the campaign.
asserted
I → hear → campaign
I don’t know where that came from,” Horner told Al Jazeera.
asserted
Horner → know → Jazeera
“As far as taking on Canada in this huge hostile trade war, I’m totally against it.”
asserted
I → take → it
Horner has watched the price of bait climb along with the cost of the diesel needed to power his boat.
asserted
price → watch → boat
Far beyond Maine’s rocky coastline, tensions involving the US, Iran, Russia and Ukraine have helped drive up global diesel prices, which hit record highs in September.
asserted
which → involve → September
Before the US and Israel began their war on Iran, diesel averaged $3.08 per gallon (3.8 litres) and has now more than doubled to $6.29.
asserted
diesel → begin → 6.29
Maine’s lobster fisheries brought in $461m in 2025, underpinning a seafood economy that is dependent on the crustacean.
asserted
that → bring → crustacean
But that industry was put on edge when Trump announced sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods, prompting retaliation from Ottawa.
asserted
Trump → put → Ottawa
In August, Trump imposed tariffs on $20bn worth of Canadian goods while alleging unfair treatment of US products.
asserted
Trump → impose → products
Canada responded with retaliatory tariffs, but lifted the levies on seafood later that month.
asserted
Canada → respond → seafood
Maine’s peak lobster season runs from late summer into early autumn, when catches surge and local processors can struggle to keep up.
asserted
processors → run → autumn
To handle the volume, much of the catch is sent to Canada for processing into lobster tails, meat and bisque before some of it returns to the US for sale.
asserted
some → handle → sale
An estimated 60 percent of Maine’s lobster catch is processed in Canada.
asserted
percent → estimate → Canada
“As soon as those tariffs went out, the screaming, literally and figuratively, in Maine and Canada was quite loud,” Justin Snyder, who works in the Maine lobster industry and is also a Democratic strategist, told Al Jazeera.
asserted
who → go → Jazeera
While seafood was ultimately exempted from the US-Canadian trade war, the tariff threat raised fears in the industry and put pressure on Susan Collins, the Republican senator who is in a close midterm election race with Democrat Troy Jackson.
asserted
who → exempt → Jackson
Jackson, the former president of the Maine State Senate, holds a very slight advantage.
asserted
Jackson → hold → advantage
A recent CNN poll suggested Jackson was leading by four percentage points, and a Marist poll indicated he was leading by two points, which is within the margin of error.
uncertain
which → suggest → error
Collins has built a reputation in the Senate for voicing concerns about Trump’s policies and rhetoric but supporting his agenda when it comes time to vote.
asserted
it → build → agenda
Collins has voted in line with Trump’s position on 92 percent of Senate votes during his second term, which began in January 2025.
asserted
which → vote → January
However, Collins has broken with Trump on tariffs on several occasions.
asserted
Collins → break → occasions
In April 2025, she voted to overturn tariffs on Canadian goods.
asserted
she → vote → goods
Later that month, she supported a resolution to end Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, and in August, she pushed back against the White House over tariffs affecting seafood.
asserted
she → support → seafood
Beyond tariffs on Canadian goods and other imports, levies on foreign steel and aluminium have added costs for Maine’s lobster industry, which relies on the metals to manufacture the traps used by fishermen.
asserted
which → add → fishermen
Jackson has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s tariffs, arguing that Collins has not done enough to challenge the president’s trade measures.
asserted
Collins → argue → measures
During their most recent debate, Collins touted her efforts to secure tariff exemptions for products such as road salt.
asserted
Collins → tout → salt
Jackson pushed back, saying, “We can’t eat road salt.”
asserted
We → push → salt
Trump removed 50 percent tariffs on some Canadian goods, including certain machinery and packaging products, on October 30, ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections.
asserted
Trump → remove → elections
At the same time, his administration extended the tariffs to other Canadian goods, including certain waste products.
asserted
administration → extend → products
I don’t think there’s anybody up here, Republican or Democrat, who can imagine why we’re involved in this thing,” Maine Republican strategist Lance Dutson told Al Jazeera.
asserted
Dutson → think → Jazeera
“I don’t think that’s something people are going to point to Susan Collins on, though.
asserted
people → think → Collins
I think she’s made it pretty obvious that she’s worked to try to mitigate those things.”
asserted
she → think → things
Beyond the immediate costs to Maine businesses, the tariffs risk undermining the competitiveness of US exporters over the longer term.
asserted
tariffs → risk → term
Trade tensions between Canada and the US have led to Ottawa deepening ties with other countries like China, a move that potentially puts US exporters at a disadvantage.
“Our competitors, namely Canada, are now trading for the most part with those countries tariff-free or with very low tariffs.
asserted
competitors → lead → tariffs
If we can’t compete with that, we have fewer markets to sell to, which puts downward pressure on the prices paid to fishermen,” Snyder, the Democratic strategist, said.
asserted
Snyder → compete → fishermen
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
