They lined up at the mic at Jay Peak Resort and delivered the same message: this trade war with Canada is hitting home. The ski area sits less than 10 miles from the border and typically more than 35% of its visitors come from Canada. Last season, the share of Canadians at the resort fell by roughly 25%, part of a broader pullback in travel to the U.S.
Steve Wright, Jay Peak's president, said Canadian bookings and events were starting to recover, but momentum has faded since President Donald Trump rolled out new 50% tariffs on imports from Canada, threatened further measures, and signed an order to change the name of Lake Ontario to "Lake America." Wright recalled Trump's earlier talk about turning Canada into the 51st state and said the mood matters. "What's affecting us most isn't necessarily the tariffs, it's the rhetoric and the erosion of trust that is underneath that," he said. "We depend on moving people across the border."
The event, held about two hours southeast of Montreal, was organized by Vermont Senator Peter Welch, a Democrat.
Track Inc., which sells snow machines with names like "Snow Rabbit" and "Tucker Sno-Cat" to customers in both countries, has seen deals dry up. "Since Trump's second term has started, it's been nothing but headaches," owner Mike Desmarais said. The company's sales fell 30% in 2025. "This year, they had started to pick up, but now the order books have just slammed shut." He expects to ship two U.S.-made units to New Brunswick by the end of September, but said the uncertainty is overwhelming: "Our business is just destined to close. If these tariffs stay active, we're not going to have the business."
Artisanal producer Jasper Hill Farm had finally secured a licensed importer in 2024 to distribute its cheeses in Canada, a tightly managed market. "Then in February of last year, what looked like was going to be a $1 million year for us went absolutely cold," founder Mateo Kehler said. A purchase order placed this year was just canceled because Canada plans to apply 25% counter-tariffs on U.S. cheese.
While modernizing, the farm also bought cheesemaking equipment from Canada and France and got hit with steep customs duties when it arrived in 2025. "Tariffs are changing week to week and month to month, and it becomes almost impossible to manage a budget within the context of this environment that we're in," Kehler said. "It's horrendous."
The U.S. and Canada exchanged almost $900 billion in goods and services last year, a lifeline for Canada and for many northern U.S. states. Trump and his officials argue tariffs are a tool to rebalance trade, including with Canada and Mexico. By the numbers, the U.S. recorded a $55 billion gap in goods trade with Canada last year, largely because the U.S. buys over 4 million barrels per day of crude and petroleum products from Canada. Strip out energy and the U.S. runs a surplus with its neighbor.
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Trump's latest 50% tariffs on hundreds of Canadian products were imposed using a Depression-era statute. Vermont's Department of Economic Development estimates those duties mean about $193 million in added costs on Canadian goods entering the state. Ottawa's planned reply is set to land on Sept. 8, with counter-tariffs that Vermont officials say will pile on roughly $318 million in costs to the state's exports to Canada.
The tensions have even created some cross-aisle agreement in Vermont. The state is represented by Bernie Sanders in the U.S. Senate and has elected Republican Governor Phil Scott five times. After Trump's "Lake America" order, Scott called it "petty and disappointing. We should be at the negotiating table, finding a path forward that strengthens both the US and Canadian economies."
Welch has introduced a bill, alongside New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Illinois Representative Bradley Schneider, to revoke the tariff authority used for the 50% duties. The measure is not expected to become law. Trump has also warned he could apply 50% tariffs on Canadian cars and auto parts on Jan. 1.
"Canada will be treated like a State no longer! On Trade, and in other ways, also, they are among the worst Nations in the World to deal with. They feel entitled, and yet, WE DON'T NEED CANADA, THEY NEED US!" he wrote on social media on Aug. 24.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
This is not abstract. Jay Peak is seeing fewer Canadian lift tickets, small manufacturers are shelving shipments, and a Vermont cheesemaker just lost a buyer. The policy math is concrete too: state officials have put hard dollar amounts on what the tariffs mean for Vermont's imports and exports, and Canada's response kicks in on Sept. 8.
If your job, business or shopping basket depends on smooth U.S.-Canada commerce, watch two things: whether cross-border travel continues to recover or stalls again, and whether the threatened auto tariffs actually materialize on Jan. 1. The people on stage at Jay Peak were blunt about the cost of uncertainty, and for household budgets that rely on those cross-border ties, that uncertainty is the headline.
