This past weekend, President Trump violated the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that he negotiated during his first term in office, one which “creates more balanced, reciprocal trade supporting high-paying jobs for Americans and grow the North American economy.”[1] The new imposition of a 25% tariff on all imported goods and 10% tariff on oil to our neighbors to the north in Canada will exacerbate the already unstable economy in NY and St. Lawrence County.
Like all of his recent actions, President Trump enacted the tariffs through Executive Order rather than proceeding through a Congress that is currently controlled in both houses by Republicans, including our NY-21 Representative, Elise Stefanik. President Trump has blamed the use of Executive Order on the flow of fentanyl and Illegal crossings through the Northern Border. But Canada stated officially, “Less than 1 percent of the fentanyl and illegal crossings into the United States come from Canada.”[2] And in retaliation, Canada has swiftly followed with a $155B tariff package of its own on American-made products. How can this end well?
President Trump’s tariffs in his first term resulted in higher costs for Americans and did not result in new industry for American workers. Let’s be clear, a trade war with Canada is not good for the North Country economy. The United States remains the primary destination for Canadian crude oil, receiving approximately 97% of Canada’s exports in 2023.[3] Canadian natural gas is powering our furnaces, and Canadian lumber is shipped across our rail lines on a daily basis. Even the planned 10% tariff will be harmful.
It’s not Donald Trump or Elise Stefanik who will suffer because of these tariffs; it is you and I who will pay more at the pump, more to heat our houses, more at the grocery store. And it is the lineworkers laid off because their jobs at the Massena Industrial Park or the Ogdensburg Port Authority depend on imported goods. It is the local retailer who doesn’t want to raise prices but has no choice when the cost of items goes up by ten or twenty-five percent or even more.
It’s important to note that the tariffs are assessed to the imported goods, not to the prices on the shelves. If an item costs $10 to make, the wholesaler charges $20, and it lands on the shelf for $40. With tariffs, the 25% is added to the cost of production, so $10 becomes $12.50, wholesale price becomes $25, and that lands on the shelf for $50. You’re paying $10 more for a tariff cost of $2.50.
In a region that regularly flies the flag of Canada next to the Stars and Stripes, it seems absurd to start a war of any kind with our friends to the North. Mr. Trump and his accolades would be well served to be reminded that the last time we went to war with Canada was in 1812. It cost us dearly and took decades to rebuild relationships.
See you at the pump and voting booth!
Mike Zagrobelny, Chair, and Ginger Storey-Welch, Vice-Chair
St. Lawrence County Democrats
[2] https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2025/02/canada-announces-155b-tariff-package-in-response-to-unjustified-us-tariffs.html
[3] https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/data-analysis/energy-markets/market-snapshots/2024/market-snapshot-almost-all-canadian-crude-oil-exports-went-to-the-united-states-in-2023.html

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