By Cara Chapman (Champlain Valley Reporter for NCPR)
Officials in Clinton County welcomed the news that President Donald Trump paused tariffs against Canada for 30 days after the two sides reached a deal. But they say uncertainty remains and some damage has already been done.
North Country Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Garry Douglas didn’t mince words.
“It’s kind of like a prisoner in the electric chair who gets a stay of execution from the governor,” he told reporters at the chamber’s annual State of the County, City and Town Breakfast in Plattsburgh yesterday. “First we welcome it, but we’re going back to the cell — we’re not free yet.”
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Trump’s administration initially planned to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian goods at midnight Tuesday. But hours before, Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a 30-day pause while negotiations continue.
Real impacts
Douglas said even though the tariffs haven’t gone into effect, they’re already having real impacts here in the North Country. For example, he said at least two Canadian manufacturers have paused plans to expand their operations here.
“Business doesn’t like to operate in uncertainty, so you know that uncertainty is causing things that you don’t — you don’t know what would’ve happened otherwise, but we know that things are being put on pause and being put in danger.”
The town of Plattsburgh is home to multiple facilities owned by Canadian manufacturers. Plattsburgh Town Supervisor Michael Cashman said he’s heard from many who are recalibrating.
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“I’m cautiously optimistic that we will work … through this, but I know many of the individuals in the manufacturing realm are trying to source other opportunities to make sure that they can keep business moving as normal as possible.”
People-to-people relationship
Another big concern is the proposed tariffs’ impact on cross-border travel and tourism. Trudeau has urged Canadians to travel and spend money within their home country rather than in the U.S.
Douglas encouraged chamber members at the breakfast to reinforce the message that Canadians are “still our friends.”
“The most important thing about the U.S.-Canadian relationship isn’t government-to-government — there’ve always been disputes through the years, government-to-government — but we’ve always preserved and valued the people-to-people relationship and we need to make sure not to damage that.”
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Douglas said the chamber is working back channels to try to influence how the White House handles the tariffs. But he said, aside from messaging, there’s not much else his organization or the North Country’s federal representatives can do.
“The fact is this is coming from the very top-down, from the president, with a very personal approach to all of this that’s not terribly influence-able by our members of Congress or our senators,” he said. “We welcome their support, but that’s not going to move the needle.”
Shift in focus
Trump’s mentioned border security and drug trafficking as the reason for the tariffs. Douglas said, depending on how the next 30 days shake out, he anticipates the focus of the tariff threats will shift.
“We know the administration is going to come back around on direct trade imbalance matters. So this isn’t going to go away for quite some time, but hopefully it won’t be as aggressive as it has been.”
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Douglas said the chamber estimates cross-border business and commerce have a more than $1 billion annual impact on Clinton County. He said anything that messes with that will have significant consequences for North Country businesses and jobs.
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