{"id":163385,"date":"2026-08-11T05:18:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T05:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/163385\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T05:18:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T05:18:32","slug":"new-england-canadian-leaders-tout-cross-border-ties-in-face-of-trumps-latest-tariff-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/163385\/","title":{"rendered":"New England, Canadian leaders tout cross-border ties in face of Trump\u2019s latest tariff threat"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AGov. Phil Scott speaks during a press conference at the end of a summit of New England governors and premiers from eastern Canada in Shelburne on Monday, August 10, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell\/VTDigger<\/p>\n

SHELBURNE \u2014 Some of Canada\u2019s top regional leaders on Monday touted the value of a close relationship with the U.S. and the need for both countries\u2019 federal governments to reach a comprehensive trade deal in the face of President Donald Trump\u2019s latest tariff threat.<\/p>\n

Their comments to reporters at the end of this year\u2019s New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers conference came amid tense U.S.-Canada negotiations in recent days<\/a> to potentially avert Trump\u2019s proposed 50% levies on a new slate of Canadian goods<\/a>, which are set to take effect next week.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s on-again, off-again approach to trade policy over the past year and a half only continues to hurt the entire region, the leaders said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re living through right now with the tariffs, with the threat of tariffs, with some of the insults and the talking points, they\u2019re difficult. There\u2019s no way around that,\u201d said Tim Houston, the premier of Nova Scotia. \u201cThey\u2019re very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, said Rob Lantz, the premier of Prince Edward Island, \u201cWe would all benefit from more free, fair, tariff-free trade.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the conference, regional officials and business leaders discussed ways to bolster supply chains supporting business in New England and eastern Canada that are insulated from the whims of U.S. trade policy, Lantz added. The conference included a visit to the South Burlington electric aviation company Beta Technologies, which was one of the event\u2019s largest financial supporters, according to meeting materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to continue that strong economic relationship that we\u2019ve benefited from for generations,\u201d Lantz said<\/p>\n

Houston and Lantz addressed reporters alongside the international minister of Quebec\u2019s provincial government, Gov. Phil Scott and officials from the five other New England states. The press conference was held at Shelburne Farms.<\/p>\n

\"FiveGov. Phil Scott looks on as Rob Lantz, premier of Prince Edward Island, left, gives way to Tim Houston, premier of Nova Scotia, at a press conference at the end of a summit of New England governors and prime ministers from eastern Canada in Shelburne on Monday, August 10, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell\/VTDigger<\/p>\n

Trump announced last month<\/a> that he would apply 50% tariffs to a wide range of Canadian products including motor vehicles, dairy products and alcohol, to take effect Aug. 19. The tariffs are a response to \u201cCanada\u2019s discriminatory treatment of American products\u201d through uneven trade policies, the White House has said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most Canadian provinces, for example, have halted the sales of U.S.-made alcoholic beverages<\/a> though haven\u2019t restricted similar products from other countries. Some Vermont distilleries<\/a>, like their counterparts around the country, have felt the pinch of those bans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Canadian provincial leaders have told their federal government that ending those alcohol bans should be on the table in negotiations<\/a> with Washington, D.C., Lantz told reporters, acknowledging that it was \u201can irritant\u201d for the president.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis seems to be an opportunity to come to a comprehensive deal and try to put most of this behind us, if not all of it, and move forward,\u201d he said. \u201cSo those alcohol bans are simply on the table \u2014 but we would like to know what we get in return.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vermont officials have criticized the latest round of proposed tariffs.<\/p>\n

Scott, a Republican, sent a letter last month to Howard Lutnick, Trump\u2019s commerce secretary, urging the administration to reverse course for the sake of Vermont\u2019s economic dependence on its northern neighbor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can support American workers, strengthen domestic manufacturing, and insist on fair trade without unnecessarily increasing the cost of living for working-class Americans or weakening our economic partnership with Canada,\u201d Scott wrote.<\/p>\n

The governor said that, as of Monday, he had yet to receive a response.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Phil Scott speaks during a press conference at the end of a summit of New England governors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17,2389,162,52488,400,401],"class_list":["post-163385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-canada","tag-canada-us-relations","tag-donald-trump","tag-phil-scott","tag-tariffs","tag-trade"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}