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Telegraph
3 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
This US holiday spot is being crippled by Trump's war on Canada
Overlooking picturesque Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, southern Maine, Barnacle Billy's has welcomed presidents, prime ministers and princes over the past six and a half decades. George HW Bush used to ferry world leaders, including Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev, on his speedboat across the bay to the seafood restaurant from his summer residence at Walker's Point. But now Tim Tower, the owner of the business, is more focused on a more prosaic clientele: Canadians. Nearly 800,000 Canadians crossed the border last year, spending almost half a billion dollars in the US. This year, Maine's businesses are bracing themselves for a 25 per cent drop, largely thanks to Donald Trump. His repeated suggestions that Canada should become America's 51st state, coupled with his tariff war, saw the number of tourists crossing over the Canadian border to holiday in the States drop by 157,000 in the first four months of the year. Canadians also did not take kindly to Mr Trump berating Justin Trudeau, the former prime minister, belittling the country on Truth Social and antagonising Mark Carney, Mr Trudeau's replacement, throughout the general election earlier this year. Sporadic reports of Canadians being interrogated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, having their phones searched, and even being detained at the border has many Canadians under the impression that Trump's America is not putting out the welcome mat for its friendly northern neighbours. One of the most popular spots for summering Canadians in the US is the northeastern state of Maine, home to a rugged, rocky coast, tranquil lakes and rolling, green mountains. With traditional industries like paper manufacturing and textile mills having gone long ago, tourism is vital to the state's economy. It even has 'Vacationland' emblazoned on number plates. It is Maine's business owners such as Mr Tower who are at the sharp end of Mr Trump's falling out with Canada. The son of the restaurant's founder, 'Barnacle Billy' Tower, trusts that generations of goodwill should shield the business from some of the fallout triggered by the US president's invective. But the future is uncertain in the town and southern Maine as a whole with fears that the once steady stream of Canadian cars heading south is slowing down to a trickle. Fewer Quebec and Nova Scotia number plates are being spotted on the roads down from Canada and far less French is being heard in restaurants and stores this spring, locals say. Like many business owners, Mr Tower is somewhat apprehensive about what the summer holds. 'Revenue will be down. And hopefully there'll be something to counterbalance it if indeed the Canadians don't show up in the numbers we expect,' he told The Telegraph. 'But I'm worried about Canadians in general [not] coming because of a negative feeling they might have.' Hoteliers have told him that Canadians who come to the seaside town of Ogunquit every year are giving Maine a miss this summer. The fear is that some may never return. 'If you were going to choose any country to have a border with, of all the countries in the world, Canada would always be number one,' Mr Tower continued. But he fears that the neighbourly goodwill has dissipated. 'I'm disappointed that one man or one administration could do something like that,' he added. John Clancy, who owns the Perkins Cove Pottery Shop, which has been in business for 41 years, fears the predicted 25 per cent drop in tourists to Maine could be an underestimate. 'I had a conversation with a [Canadian] tour operator,' he told The Telegraph. 'This past season, they usually were scheduled like about 100 trips a season all over the US. And this year, they were down from 11 to five . And I think once they were at five, they just decided to cancel all trips for 2025. 'All this sort of ridiculous talk of Canada becoming another state, the rhetoric is just dismissive of our friends in Canada. So I could clearly see that Canadians were just not coming to visit.' About 13 miles to the north, Ken Mason felt the cold blast of Canadian antipathy towards Mr Trump before the summer season even started. Canadians account for around 40 per cent of springtime guests at the Seaside Inn on Kennebunk Beach, which has been in the same family since 1667. 'Traditionally, we have quite a few of the same Canadians come back each year; we have about an 82 per cent return rate,' he told The Telegraph. 'Each year in November, I send letters to returning guests offering them first refusal to come back the following season.' 'Starting about the end of January, beginning of February, I ended up having enough Canadians cancel that I had to refund just under $7,000. 'The only reason that any of them gave us was they just didn't like the rhetoric towards Canada and they didn't feel that they were welcome this year to come down to the States. 'They didn't like being called a little brother, they didn't like being called to the 51st state,' Mr Mason said. He added: 'And these are people that have been coming for decades and I know them and I call them back and try to let them know that they're more than welcome in the area. 'They're more welcome anywhere in the States to come but they just said this year because they didn't feel like they were being welcome, they just went to pass and go someplace else.' Old Orchard Beach, a seaside resort with an old-fashioned funfair, has been popular with Canadians for decades. It was singled out for a boycott by Mr Trudeau earlier this year. In early March, as Mr Trump launched his trade war, the former prime minister pinpointed the Maine resort as a target for Canadian retaliation. 'This is a trade war,' Mr Trudeau said. 'Canadians are hurt. Canadians are angry. We're going to choose to not go on vacation in Florida or Old Orchard Beach or wherever.' Canadians also boycotted other US products from bourbon to wine as feelings ran high. 'We definitely did have a bunch of cancellations in January and February,' Sean Nickless, who runs the Crest Motel, told The Telegraph. 'Some Canadians are still coming. At the beginning, I was a little more pessimistic, but now I'm more hopeful.' This is not the first time that Maine has fallen victim to Mr Trump's administration. During his first term, his trade war with China saw Beijing slap a 40 per cent tariff on US lobsters, dealing a mortal blow to one of the state's other key industries. Janet Mills, Maine's governor, who had a spectacular Oval Office row with Mr Trump over a transgender athlete, has tried to limit the damage to its tourist industry. To make Canadians feel wanted in Maine, the state has put up signs in English and French welcoming them to the state. She admits it is a small gesture. 'A sign can't stop harmful policies or rhetoric coming from Washington, but it can send a simple but powerful message – here in Maine, we value our neighbours, we will always treat them with respect, and we welcome them warmly to our state.'
CBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CBC
U.S. court decisions on Trump's tariffs shows volatility of situation: Champagne
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne tells Power & Politics two U.S. court decisions that blocked, then reinstated, President Donald Trump's broadest tariffs show Canadians how 'volatile' the trade situation is.
Fox News
4 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
Senators go to Canada to meet PM Carney, smooth Trump tariff, 51st-state tensions
A bipartisan group of senators, led by North Dakota Republican Kevin Cramer and New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, recently traveled to Ottawa, Ontario, to help ease rising tensions between the U.S. and Canada. The quintet, which also included Sens. Peter Welch, D-Vt., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., was photographed glad-handing Prime Minister Mark Carney, a liberal who had been aided in his election over conservative favorite Pierre Poilievre in part due to American right-wing overtures. As the lone Republican, Cramer was in the difficult spot of balancing representing the president's party and engendering goodwill with Carney, whose government has been targeted by U.S. tariffs and pledges by President Donald Trump to be made the "51st state." He did not respond to a Fox News request for comment in that regard, but Kaine told Punchbowl News that Trump respects Cramer and his "insight and loyalty." "That means the president can probably hear some things from him that, if I said it, I wouldn't get paid attention to," Kaine said. In a statement, Cramer said the two nations share "more than a border" and that working through challenges requires "frank dialogue." "I was encouraged by the meetings, and the Prime Minister's transparent and thoughtful words were smart and instructive. I look forward to working with our friends, business partners, and neighbors in Canada to strengthen our relationship and address mutual issues facing our great countries," he added. The delegation, joined by Ambassador Pete Hoekstra, a former border-state congressman from Michigan, was geared toward joint defense and economic priorities, according to Cramer. The White House directed Fox News Digital to the State Department when asked about its response to the diplomatic overture from Cramer and the four Democrats. But Foggy Bottom did not provide comment for the record. But Cramer told Punchbowl he didn't want to get in Trump's way and that no trade deal could happen without the White House but that Canada needs to know they have a partner in the U.S. "Hopefully I navigated it OK, but I'll find out on Truth Social," he said. Kaine plans to force a Senate vote on a resolution to block Trump's China tariffs if détente isn't reached between Ottawa and Washington. His office directed Fox News Digital to a Punchbowl story on the matter, where the Virginian was quoted saying that there will be negative effects on the U.S. economy if "this doesn't get sorted out." "I hope I don't need to," Kaine said. The U.S. imposed 25% tariffs on Canadian steel, automobiles and other goods not currently covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, according to the Wall Street Journal. Canada retaliated by imposing $43 billion worth of its own tariffs against the U.S. "We've got more that we need to do before we're satisfied that we have a partnership that is in Canada's interest. We've made a lot of progress," Carney said Tuesday after the visit concluded. Every congressional participant except Kaine hails from a state that borders Canada. One report said that annual Canadian visitation to Cramer's North Dakota outnumbers its own population, while Welch has been vocal about Vermont's symbiotic reliance on Canadian residents' dollars, especially in its recreation sector. "The U.S.-Canada relationship has made us all safer and more prosperous, protecting our continent from foreign threats and transforming North America into a hub of global trade, innovation and investment," Welch said in a statement co-signed by the other lawmakers. "The trip has reaffirmed our joint desire to move past current tensions in the bilateral relationship and lay the groundwork for a stronger partnership moving forward."
Fox News
5 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
Carney says Canada is not for sale, Trump replies, 'Never say never'
Despite President Donald Trump's interest in Canada becoming the 51st state, Canada isn't for sale — ever, according to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Trump regularly has said he wants Canada to become a U.S. state, and has discussed acquiring Greenland and the Panama Canal for security purposes. However, the matter of Canada isn't open to negotiation, Carney said. "Having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign the last several months, it's not for sale," Carney said at the White House Tuesday. "Won't be for sale ever, but the opportunity is in the partnership and what we can build together. We have done that in the past, and part of that, as the president just said, is with respect to our security and my government is committed for a step change in our investment in Canadian security and our partnership." While Trump acknowledged that Canada was stepping up its investment in military security, Trump said "never say never" in response to Canada becoming another state. "I've had many, many things that were not doable, and they ended up being doable," Trump said. Later, Carney said Canada's stance on the issue wouldn't alter. "Respectfully, Canadians' view on this is not going to change on the 51st state," Carney said. The interaction comes after Trump told Time magazine in an April interview that he wasn't "trolling" when discussing the possibility of Canada becoming part of the U.S. Trump told Time's Eric Cortellessa that the U.S. is "losing" money supporting Canada, and the only solution on the table is for it to become a state. "We're taking care of their military," Trump told the magazine. "We're taking care of every aspect of their lives, and we don't need them to make cars for us. In fact, we don't want them to make cars for us. We want to make our own cars. We don't need their lumber. We don't need their energy. We don't need anything from Canada. And I say the only way this thing really works is for Canada to become a state." Still, Trump will continue pushing for Canada to become a state, though he cast doubt on whether he'd use military force to achieve such ends, he told NBC's Kristen Welker in an interview that aired Sunday. "Well, I think we're not going to ever get to that point," Trump said. "It could happen." In the same interview, Trump doubled down on how significant Greenland is for the U.S. in terms of national security. Although Greenland has asserted it is seeking independence from Denmark and isn't interested in joining the U.S., Trump has regularly expressed a strong interest in securing Greenland — particularly given an increase in Russian and Chinese presence in the Arctic. "Something could happen with Greenland," Trump told NBC. "I'll be honest, we need that for national and international security."
CTV News
5 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Reid: King Charles sent clear message on Canada's ability to stand strong and sovereign
Watch CTV News political strategist Scott Reid shares his take on King Charles's speech, U.S.-Canada ties, and Canada's path to maintaining sovereignty.
