BBC News
BbcAt the end of a quarter of a waitress, Kristina Lampert used to separate his advice into two batteries: Canadian Cash and American.
But she hasn’t done this for weeks.
Cargos, the restaurant where she works, is one of the first places that people can take a bite after crossing the border of the United States-Canada between Sarnia, Ontario and Port Huron, Michigan.
The Blue Water Bridge, which connects the United States and Canada, is fully seen from the restaurant windows.
“Many people came to say” we are here for sight, “she said about Canadian guests.” I haven’t heard that recently. “
The border towns have noticed almost instantly when US President Donald Trump began to impose prices on countries around the world and said he wanted to make Canada the 51st American state – because the number of Canadians crossing the border has dropped.
The border crossings between the United States and Canada have been down around 17% since Trump began to bring prices, according to CBP data.
Canadians’ car trips to the United States fell by almost 32% compared to March 2024, according to Statistics Canada.
Like many cities that dot along the border of 5,525 miles (8,891 km), the savings of Port Huron and Sarnia are linked and depend in some respects of each other. Port Huron is a manufacturing city of less than 30,000 people with a picturesque city center and many retail shops, offering visitors an attractive opportunity for a day trip.
One day when there is little traffic, a Sarnia resident can cross the border and be in Michigan in a few minutes.
Many of these cities have been faced with their first test over five years ago when the COVVI-19 pandemic closed level crossings for 19 months and left local savings in shock.
Now they see a second economic blow due to Trump’s trade war, many Canadians choosing “buy Canadian” – buy Canadian manufacturing goods – and reduce trips to the United States in response to the tapered relationship between the two neighboring countries.
A place that is felt is in Sarnia’s Duty Free, the last place you can buy goods before leaving Canada and entering the United States. The perfume and alcohol shelves are more full and the parking is more empty since the start of pricing tension.
Barbara Barett, Executive Director of the Frontier Duty Free Association, said that some of the 32 free of -land rights in Canada have seen up to 80% of sales since Trump’s return to the White House. Most stores have seen a 50 to 60% drop in business.
“We are 100% dependent on the trip through the border,” she said about the free. “Our stores are often pillars of these communities; communities depend on it.”
And while the crossing of Port Huron-Sarnia is better than most, on Friday in May, the parking lot of Sarnia Duty Free is almost empty.
Tania Lee, who runs the store with her family, says it has become the new standard.
Easter weekend – usually one of their busiest of the year, while Canadians take advantage of the break to stop in a favorite restaurant and go to a religious service in Port Huron – cars were rare and sales were not what they should have been, she said.
“We suffer due to collateral border damage,” said Lee about her second generation family business.
Ms. Lee notes that people who live in border cities often cross the border several times a week. She, for example, has a mailbox in a shipping installation in Port Huron that she visits regularly, just like her neighbors.
People on the other side of the blue water bridge also feel the effects, says mayor Anita Ashford.
She heard two residents of her city and Canadians frustrated by the increased tension between nations.
A national level, a 10% drop in Canadian tourism would cost the United States up to 14,000 jobs and $ 2.1 billion (1.56 billion sterling) in business, according to the US Travel Association.
Michigan is one of the places likely to see the biggest of this impact. In 2023, visitors to Canadians spent a collective of $ 238 million in the state, according to tourism officials.
This money is essential for border towns like Port Huron, says its mayor.
“I hope that the people of Washington will start to understand what they are doing to people,” she said. “We are not responsible for it, the (federal) government has put us in this position and we must now face it.”
“We need each other,” she said.
