SOUTH HERO, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont businesses are scrambling to adjust to the Trump administration’s new tariffs on Canada, the state’s largest trading partner. Both fell deeper into a trade war Saturday, marked by angry recriminations and new tariffs that are expected to raise prices for products in both countries.
In about two weeks, Snow Farm Vineyard owner David Lane will begin picking, pressing, and aging rows of grapes at his South Hero farm, turning them into a variety of award-winning wines. They also distill byproducts into brandy, gin, grappa, and more.
Lane says he has already been paying more for bottles and equipment from previous tariffs. “This is a tariff in a long line of tariffs,” He said. Lane says the latest actions only serve to create more confusion and raise prices. “This is just one more area where that unknown and that economic uncertainty rears its head.”
“I’m not tired of coming here. We’re like brothers pretty much,” said Patrick Barrelet, who lives in Canada and works at the vineyard. He says his fellow Canadians are baffled by the ongoing trade war. “For us, it’s very difficult to understand what’s the obsession with Canada.”
Per capita, Vermont is more reliant on Quebec for economic activity than most states. Last year, cross-border trade with the province was over $3 billion.
“I don’t think I could design a more lose-lose situation where everybody is going to pay, and somebody is going to have to cry uncle as we struggle with our nearest and formerly closest neighbor,” said Amy Magnus, a customs broker with A.N. Deringer in St. Albans.
In a statement, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott condemned the tariffs, calling them a tax on Americans. “They raise costs for families, farmers and employers on both sides of the border and strain a relationship that has made both countries stronger and more secure.”
“It’s getting tiresome,” said Austin Davis with the Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce. He says that since the Trump administration’s tariffs took effect last year, local businesses have struggled. But he says the more permanent damage is to cross-border relations. “Supply chains, tariffs — all of these things can change quickly. The underpinning emotional context — that’s going to take a lot more work. The trust, the fidelity, the fraternity; that’s more difficult.”
There may be more tariffs on the way. Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday threatened retaliatory tariffs beginning in early September. Another big unknown as Vermont and Canada’s interconnected economies and communities push forward.
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