Wary of Political Fallout, and Losing Business, Maine Supporters of Trump Tariffs Keep Low Profile

When anti-Trump Maine businesses called a news conference recently to lobby against the administration’s proposed and imposed tariffs, the fawning legacy media couldn’t set up their cameras and mics quickly enough.

Predictably, the news coverage was one-sided, as so-called journalists failed to so much as even ask for an opposing view.

The most obvious – and egregious – offender was the state’s largest newspaper, the Portland Press Herald, which made no effort whatsoever at seeking balance.

The moral to the story is that going against Trump is good for Maine business, tariffs or no tariffs, including for the newspaper in the state’s largest city, Democrat-controlled Portland. Much of this appears to be political.

Both Governor Janet Mills (D) and First District U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D) have been outspoken in their opposition to the Trump tariff policies while Second District U.S. Rep. Jared Golden (D) has been generally supportive of them — perhaps the only Democrat in Congress to stake such a position.

With the political headwinds in Maine, and much of America — California Governor Gavin Newsom (D), for instance, is suing the Trump administration over its China tariff policy–blowing against the trade levies, businesses now fall into one of three categories. First there are the vocally opposed, then there are the ‘wait-and-see’ fence-sitters, and finally there are the quietly supportive — keen not to turn away customers.

So perhaps it’s no surprise that pro-Trump businesses in Maine go into political-stealth mode, especially if they’re queried for their opinions on the controversial tariffs.

Heck, even Paul LePage, the former Republican governor and Marden’s discount-chain executive who not only is a big Trump supporter but also who famously said “I was Trump before Trump was Trump,” ignored a chance to defend the tariffs.

The Maine Wire contacted dozens of Maine companies from Madawaska to Kittery, Eastport to Sanford, seeking to balance the one-sided, anti-tariff news coverage presented by the mainstream liberal media.

The few that replied offered either bombastic lectures on why balanced journalism is anti-American, or non-committal comments designed to keep them out of the political spotlight. Even companies that are likely to benefit from tariffs were circumspect.

The replies from some companies indicated that the safest approach to commerce is straddling the political lines, i.e., saying virtually nothing.

Take Hamilton Marine in Searsport for an example of the only good comment is not to comment.

“As a company, Hamilton Marine has no comment on political issues,” said Renee Kitchen, marketing director. “Our focus remains on providing the right product at the right time and at the right price.

“To achieve this, we source goods from both U.S. and international manufacturers, striving to keep our prices competitive,” Kitchen said. “Additionally, we prioritize sourcing locally and proudly work with several dozen vendors located in Maine.”

Bath Iron Works referred The Maine Wire to the Shipbuilders’ Coalition of America (SCA), a DC-based advocacy group which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Given that Rep. Golden has been pushing to restore America’s shipbuilding capacity relative to China’s, which has far outpaced the U.S. in recent years, and that the Trump administration has appeared receptive to these calls, one might imagine shipbuilders would welcome a tariff policy heavily-stacked against China. Like others who stand to benefit, SCA appears to consider silence the safer route.

[RELATED: Jared Golden Urges Crackdown on Chinese Ship Manufacturing and Investments in the U.S.]

Alana Schaeffer, president of the Metal Trades Council at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, also declined comment, saying she couldn’t talk about “something affecting the federal workforce.”

The Maine Chamber of Commerce responded to a request from The Maine Wire by saying they would try to identify businesses among their wide membership who might give voice to a more positive outlook on the tariff policy, but as of noon on Friday appear to have been unable to so.

Businesspeople are familiar with the fallout if they are so much as related to conservative politics, which is what happened in Maine during Trump’s first campaign to L.L. Bean and its family connection to Bean heiress and GOP activist Linda Bean.

The state’s famous catalog outfitter faced a shopper backlash in 2016 when the granddaughter of the company’s founder contributed to a Trump political action committee.

After Linda Bean contributed $60,000 to Making America Great Again LLC, an anti-Trump social action group, #GrabYourWallet, added L.L. Bean to a list of companies it said warranted potential boycotts.

[RELATED: Linda L. Bean, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist and GOP Donor, Has Died at Age 82]

To preserve its profits, the Bean company quickly issued a statement at the time distancing itself from Linda Bean, a Trump supporter and granddaughter of founder Leon Leonwood Bean.

Shawn Gorman, executive chairman of the company, said then he was “deeply troubled by the portrayal of L.L.Bean as a supporter of any political agenda.”

“L.L.Bean does not endorse political candidates, take positions on political matters, or make political contributions,” Gorman said. “Simply put, we stay out of politics.”

He said that for more than 100 years, L.L. Bean “has been singularly focused on offering high-quality, satisfaction-guaranteed products and outstanding customer service in the Maine tradition.”

Sounds familiar. Rewind the tape to Hamilton Marine.

The Maine Wire learned that to suffer political or economic retribution such as that faced by those who openly support Trump, one need do no more than ask a simple question.

Consider the response The Wire received from Eric Dow of Dow Boats in Brooklin when it asked him, among dozens of other Maine businesspeople, for a pro-tariff opinion to balance out the mainstream media’s cult-like, anti-tariff coverage:

“Maybe the companies that are criticizing the T-Rump tariffs are justified in their condemnation of such a harmful action!” Dow said in an email response bristling with indignation. “Maybe the press is covering the majority of opinions of this, especially when facing the threat of authoritarianism, loss of support for the much-needed/life supporting programs for those who need it most, degradation of our fragile environment, etc. etc.”

“Look up the definitions of these words: chaos, narcissism, Solipsism. T-Rump and the (unelected) Musk-ox are a dangerous combination, and will face growing and justifiable opposition,” he added.

“In other words, you can take us off your mailing list,” Dow concluded his email. “Thank you.”

Should the tariff policy ultimately prove beneficial to Maine business, as it promises to be for manufacturing companies in the Midwest, some may start singing a different tune.