JAY, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont Sen. Peter Welch convened a roundtable Tuesday at Jay Peak, where a broad swath of Vermont industries said President Trump’s tariffs on Canada are hurting their bottom line.
At Jay Peak Tuesday, Vermont business leaders spanning from beer to cheese to manufacturing say the tariffs are eating into their bottom line and causing long-term damage to cross-border relationships.
“This is an existential moment,” said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. “I’ve never seen anything that is such a blow to an economy.”
President Trump says his tariffs are intended to recalibrate a trade imbalance and reassure American manufacturing jobs. But Abby Long with the Northeast Kingdom Collaborative says new tariffs on hard and soft wood are already driving up costs for housing. “An increase like this can make an already marginal housing project financially unfeasible in a rural, low-income Northeast Kingdom economy,” Long said.
Jasper Hill Farm makes award-winning cheese in Greensboro and recently made a big investment to grow capacity and process milk. More than a million dollars of state-of-the-art cheese equipment is waiting on the other side of the border to avoid hundreds of thousands of dollars in tariffs. “It puts our capacity to grow and to continue making impact in our community at risk,” said the company’s Matteo Keeler.
Data from the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development shows Vermont imports nearly $387 million worth of products from Canada. The 50% tariff means Vermont businesses are paying an additional $193 million, which they say is also falling on consumers.
But even more impactful is the impact on the U.S. and Canada’s education, culture, and family relationships. “It’s the rhetoric and the erosion of trust underneath that,” said Jay Peak’s Steve Wright. The resort is a key player in Vermont’s $1.5 billion ski industry, and Canadians are a big part of the community. Wright says many are choosing to skip Jay and ski in Canada instead. “They are and will always be a part of this place, but a ski resort can’t mend the relationship between two countries. All we can do is continue to roll out the welcome mat here.”
Welch recently introduced the BAD DEAL Act, which seeks to repeal and refund the latest tariffs. He acknowledges it needs Republican buy-in but stresses international commerce, security, and cross-border relationships is not a partisan issue. “The point of being in charge is accepting the responsibility of making those decisions,” Welch said.
Leaders on Tuesday’s panel stress that the relationship between the U.S. and Canada is stronger than the current political moment, but they say the rebuilding of the relationship needs to happen in Washington.
In the meantime, Canadian reciprocal tariffs are set to go into effect next week on Sept. 8.
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