FELT PENS

Pennsylvania, a major battleground in the upcoming midterm elections, supplies about $7 million worth of felt pens to Canada each year. The Democrats are targeting six districts in the state. The tariff could also be seen as a symbolic shot at Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, whose hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin, is synonymous with pens after the Parker Pens company was founded there. Market forces have already done most of the damage there, though: In 2009, Parker Pens closed its Janesville operations. There’s another reason Canada might be going after felt pens: In one of his few decisions that didn’t break from White House norms, Trump is using the same type of pen for executive orders that Barack Obama and George W. Bush used. You guessed it: a felt pen.