LTE: Let’s unite to end tariff chaos

Sticker shock is looking online at a printer that cost $399 on April 2 and only six days later, on April 8 th, the same printer at the same website is $495, a 25% increase. When this was mentioned, the owner of a local store commented, “Tariffs….I’m seeing this, too.”

Local maple producers are concerned about their trade with Canada. Farmers are being hit with higher prices. Retirement accounts are shrinking while the stock market has dropped 9% since January, a “rebound” after dropping over 15% in early April. The Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority (OBPA) reports both passenger (38%) and freight (15.8%) traffic were down in March of 2025 compared to just a year earlier, creating an estimated $40,000-50,000 loss in revenue. And that’s not counting the revenue loss to the North Country economy as the restaurant, retail, and tourist businesses get slammed.

“We’re seeing real-world consequences of this trade standoff,” OBPA Executive Director Steve Lawrence lamented. ( NCTW )

Indeed, since 1997, global economic uncertainty has topped the chart only twice, during the pandemic and today. ( FRED ) For those who justify this economic chaos as President Trump’s “skill” at negotiating, we remind you that Trump has been in bankruptcy six times.

Fortunately, some members of Congress are attempting course correction. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) is crafting a companion bill to the Trade Review Act of 2025 introduced in the Senate by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) The legislation would require the president to notify Congress of any new tariffs within 48 hours and, importantly, provide an analysis of their economic impacts.“Congress would then have to pass a resolution of approval within 60 days or the tariffs would expire. Lawmakers could also pass a resolution of disapproval at any time to kill the tariffs.” ( Axios )

US President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order during a tariff announcement in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. Trump is imposing tariffs on US trading partners worldwide, his biggest assault yet on a global economic system he has long bemoaned as unfair. Photo by Kent Nishimura.

While Bacon is receiving both committed and potential support from up to twelve House Republicans, our Rep. Elise Stefanik is not one of them. Her office states she supports the tariffs.

We call upon concerned North Country citizens to call Stefanik’s office at (202) 225-4611 and ask her to support and co-sponsor her fellow Republican’s bill to restore Congress’s primary responsibility for tariffs. Though we are Democrats, we believe it’s time for us all to see ourselves as Americans uniting to stop the chaos. Our North Country economy affects us all, regardless of party affiliation, so let’s act together.

Mike Zagrobelny and Ginger Storey-Welch

Chair and Vice-Chair of the St. Lawrence County Democrats