By: ZEPHAN MATTESON
Capital News Service
With a trade war escalating between the United States and Canada, Maryland’s relationship with one of its biggest trade partners could be affected.
Negotiations to establish a new trade agreement collapsed in late August, and the Trump administration imposed a 50% tariff on $20 billion of Canadian goods. Canada responded with dollar-for-dollar tariffs on a variety of goods from the United States.
Canada is Maryland’s top export market and one of its largest import partners as well, according to data from the International Trade Administration.
What does Maryland trade with Canada?
Maryland sent $2.2 billion in goods north in 2025, with its biggest export by far being tractors, according to data from the Canadian Embassy.
Whole tractors do not appear on the list of goods subject to the retaliatory tariffs Canada has levied, according to a list of such tariffs published by Canada. Some individual engine parts and other farm equipment are subject to retaliatory tariffs.
Maryland imports more than it exports in its trade relationship with Canada. In 2025, Maryland imported around $2.8 billion in goods from Canada, making it the state’s fourth-largest source of imports, behind Germany, Japan and Mexico.
Aluminum and aluminum products make up over 15% of Maryland’s total imports from Canada. Maryland bought over $400 million of aluminum from Canada in 2025, according to data from the Canadian Embassy.
The current levy on aluminum coming into the United States sits at 50%. The United States imported almost $10 billion in aluminum from Canada in 2025, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Over half of the aluminum in the U.S. is imported and used to produce things like cars, planes and cans. Canada accounts for around 70% of that imported aluminum.
How does the Port of Baltimore factor in?
The Port of Baltimore is where the majority of aluminum from Canada comes into Maryland. According to the Maryland Port Authority, aluminum is one of the port’s top imports. In 2025, the port imported 160,500 tons of aluminum from Canada, which the port valued at over $400 million.
The Port of Baltimore has seen the effects of tariffs predominantly in its automobile imports, said Scott Cowan, president of International Longshoremen’s Association Local 333.
“Automobiles are probably, here in Baltimore, what’s most affected by the tariffs,” Cowan said. “Our container business is actually up a little bit, like a couple percentage points up.”
Business at the port has been good, Cowan said. He said the port’s roll-on/roll-off imports of construction and agricultural equipment are back up to around the levels seen before the March 2024 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
According to the Maryland Port Authority and Cowan, the Port of Baltimore exports very little to Canada.
