NEWPORT CITY – President Donald Trump continues to tout plans for tariffs between the United States and Canada as well as Mexico. On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt) and the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, a Member of Parliament for Compton-Stanstead, Quebec, along with about 30 business, state officials, and community leaders met to discuss the tariffs and the ramifications businesses on both sides of the border will face from an escalating trade war.

The presenters were chosen via a collaboration between the state, local development organizations, and the Chamber of Commerce in Sherbrooke, Que. They spoke about their concerns on the  impact tariffs and rhetoric from the President of the United States is having on the border region, and both countries as a whole. Fauna Hurley, business liaison for Welch’s office, explained the forum was important because Canada is Vermont’s largest trade partner. 

“We are really reliant on our friends to the North,” she told the Newport Daily Express (NDE) before the discussion began. “We are concerned about the impact.”

After the forum, Welch told the NDE those who spoke at the forum are all very active in the economic life of the United States-Canadian Border. He added that he wanted to hear the real-world impact of the tariffs, how they are and will affect the businesses in the region, and what impact this is having on border relationships that are historically not only tight, but even familial along the Vermont-Quebec Border.

“I heard loud and clear they’re a disaster,” he said of the tariffs. 

He continued, saying the message he plans to bring back to Washington is to stop the tariffs. “This is harmful. It’s doing nothing but damage. There is no good that comes out of this.”

Welch also said he wants Trump to stop talking about Canada as the 51st state, a sentiment that was shared by many, if not all, of those present on Tuesday. 

“It’s an independent country that we respect,” he said.

During the forum Welch said he is “absolutely horrified” by the tariffs and is appalled by what the president is saying about Canada in reference to being the 51st state.  

“There is no place for that,” Welch remarked. “We are neighbors. We’re allies. We’re friends, and I want to keep it that way.”

Welch said that Canada is the largest trading partner for Vermont, and for 34 other states. He promised those present that he will continue to do everything that can be done to maintain the cordial, friendly, economical and mutually beneficial relationships. 

Welch boasted about Canada’s environmental standards and labor standards, which he said either match or exceed those of the United States.

He also criticized the on again / off again nature of tariff threats, and the overall rhetoric that is creating uncertainty for border communities, trade partners, and businesses as a whole.

Welch talked about his greater concerns on how the tariffs may negatively affect Vermont communities. 

When Bibeau spoke, she stressed that the American people are the ones to convince Trump that tariffs are not the right thing to do for both countries. She went on to say they have to keep working together to demonstrate the tariffs will harm both countries and their people.

Bibeau said that she has separatist Canadian friends who now fly the Canadian flag in front of their homes. 

“We have never seen Canadians so united,” she declared. 

As for the effect the tariffs, and the rhetoric coming from the White House, has had on Canadian people, Bibeau said it takes longer to buy groceries. 

“If it’s made in America, we don’t buy it. It breaks our hearts. It kind of doesn’t matter if it’s made in China anymore.”

Bibeau believes that this mindset won’t last, that it is a reaction to what Canadians see as threatening rhetoric, and she expressed love for the United States and its people.

Bibeau spoke how the Parliament members have taken the trade war seriously, and were ready with counter tariffs. She added they don’t like to do that, but will not let themselves be bullied. She explained that she feels the United States government is taking Canada for granted because they are the nice “Canadian boy scouts.” She said that they, Canada, are worth more in terms of an economic partner than France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and China together. 

“We’re not going to let ourselves be bullied,” she warned. “We started with a first list of tariffs for $30 billion. We are consulting Canadians right now for a total of $150 billion.” 

Bibeau said they are consulting because they want to implement the tariffs strategically. 

“We want to hurt red states as much as possible,” she stated firmly, and we want to hurt Canadians as least as possible. “We are going to be very selective in what we will get tariffs on.”

Bibeau stressed that she wants influential people to speak to Trump about the effect this rhetoric, and the tariffs are having, and she hopes that the tariffs and the trade war do not last long. 

Newly elected Newport City Mayor Rick Ufford-Chase said that he heard a lot about the proposed tariffs while on the campaign trail.

“We are not known in the Northeast Kingdom for our liberal politics, but I will say to you that I have not met a single person who doesn’t feel strongly that these tariffs are a grave mistake,” he told Welch. “Everyone that I’m talking with believes this is the worst possible move we could make. We know that our destiny in this community is bound up with our sister communities across the border.”

Comments from the Business Community

Lots of business leaders spoke in opposition to the tariffs. Dave Laforce, owner of Built by Newport, was one of those business leaders. He spoke on how his company grew through the pandemic. Two years ago they started a new product category and worked with a partner in Canada to supply the materials. He went on to say that with information about tariffs changing hourly. Laforce continued to express the threat of tariffs will harm generational businesses on both sides of the border. He added that many mills in the United States increased their prices the minute the tariffs were threatened in February, which he said is ludicrous. 

“Now we’re really stuck,” Laforce declared. “Because even our domestic partners are taking advantage of the situation.”

Laforce noted that he does not support the tariffs and neither does his team, and they one hundred percent support Canada.

Mike Desmarais, Owner and CEO, of Track Inc, a Vermont based company, said it wants to attract firms that can create hundreds of jobs on both sides of the border, but they need the support of Bibeau. He noted that 50 percent of their products are made in the United States, and 50 percent are imported from Canada and Europe. 

“What’s going to happen to those products when we can’t sell the Canadian and European products in the United States (and) we can’t sell the American products in Canada,” Desmarais wonders. “It’s just not the way it should be.”

Jody Spearing of UTV International, a manufacturer of universal track vehicles in Montreal, said their businesses work extensively with customers in the United States. Part of the business is providing off road vehicles to utility companies, including cooperatives. His concerns were that cooperatives in the United States have relied on the company’s products for decades, and many of them have small budgets. But, if the tariffs go forward, the co-ops won’t be able to purchase UTV units from Canada for the price, and this will impact the co-ops’ customers. 

There were other businesses present, representing both countries, and many different markets. The overall consensus was that tariffs are bad for businesses, and are already hurting the communities on both sides of the border.

Story Written by Christopher Roy, The Newport Daily Express

Story Link: https://www.newportvermontdailyexpress.com/news/sen-peter-welch-attends-forum-on-tariff-concerns/article_7a64c55e-043e-11f0-9240-e786a85088b5.html