{"id":1798,"date":"2026-08-02T13:46:40","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T13:46:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=1798"},"modified":"2026-08-02T13:46:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T13:46:40","slug":"trumps-canada-tariffs-decimate-border-crossings-business-in-upper-michigan-propublica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=1798","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Canada Tariffs Decimate Border Crossings, Business in Upper Michigan \u2014 ProPublica"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On the northeast edge of Michigan\u2019s Upper Peninsula, nearly 1,100 people gathered in late June for the International Bridge Walk across the long span that links two cities with the same name: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Both the sun and the sentiments were bright.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t like to say there\u2019s a border there, because we\u2019re twin cities. We\u2019re one family, the countries of Canada and the United States,\u201d Don Gerrie, mayor of the Michigan Sault (pronounced \u201cSoo\u201d), told the crowd ahead of the annual walk.<\/p>\n

He sported a black ballcap that he said was given to him by his counterpart in the Ontario Sault. It featured flags from both nations with the words \u201cStronger Together\u201d and \u201cAllies and Friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canadians in cheerful patriotic attire joined the bridge walk, with maple leaves tagging their scarves and socks, shirts and shorts. Americans came out in star-spangled T-shirts heralding the nation\u2019s 250th birthday. But this lively tradition is clouded by an increasingly hostile relationship between the U.S. and Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Traffic over the bridge is way down. And, in recent weeks, President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs<\/a> in retaliation for thick wildfire smoke wafting into the U.S. When his administration announced an additional 50% tariff on an array of Canadian products, the White House cited<\/a> \u201cCanada\u2019s discriminatory treatment of American products.\u201d Then, using a separate mechanism, it hit Canada with a further 10% in tariffs.<\/p>\n

Following pressure from the Trump administration that delayed it, a new publicly owned bridge, the Gordie Howe, opened Monday between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. Canada hosted a Canada-only opening ceremony.<\/p>\n

Trump wasn\u2019t present for the bridge\u2019s ribbon-cutting, even though he used to cheer the project<\/a>. Up at the Sault bridge, there was no sign of the region\u2019s congressional representative at the celebration of international friendship, even though, during Trump\u2019s first term, Rep. Jack Bergman, a Republican, hailed relations with Canada.<\/p>\n

In 2020, when Bergman was appointed to an interparliamentary group<\/a> that provides a forum for exchange between Canadian and American legislators, he boasted of the Sault bridge as a point where \u201cmillions\u201d cross every year \u201cto conduct business, shop, work and enjoy what each country has to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet Bergman, who is endorsed by Trump in an upcoming contested primary, has been virtually silent on the new tariffs and their blowback in local communities, even as he\u2019s prodded to speak out by many of his constituents. The only references to Sault Ste. Marie in the news items on his website during Trump\u2019s second term are a mention of an infrastructure project and a February 2025 letter to the president about a purported member of a Venezuelan gang crossing the border.<\/p>\n

As Canada responds to Trump\u2019s moves with emergency interventions and \u201cbuy local\u201d boosterism, significantly fewer Canadians are crossing the border for once-ordinary activities: shopping, eating, fueling vehicles, vacationing or visiting family and friends.<\/p>\n

The Sault area lost at least $82.9 million last year in local spending because of decreased crossings, according to an estimate from the International Bridge Administration, which manages the span: $62.7 million on the Michigan side and $20.2 million on the Ontario side.<\/p>\n

There were 270,000 fewer total crossings last year at the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge \u2014 nearly a 24% drop from 2024, exceeding similar declines at Michigan\u2019s other border crossings. Based on the currency used to pay bridge fares and information from the Canadian prime minister\u2019s office, the drop is largely due to the loss of Canadian travelers. Halfway into 2026, auto traffic has lingered at the same lower volume, according to the bridge director, while commercial traffic has fallen nearly 15% further.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nationwide, the total number of Canadians returning from the United States last year dropped by more than 25%, according to data from the Canadian government<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Canadians have done, of course, is they\u2019re boycotting the U.S.,\u201d said Michael Broadway, a geographer and professor emeritus at Northern Michigan University who has researched the travel trends<\/a> (and joined the bridge walk<\/a>). Ordinary people can only do so much about federal politics, he said, \u201cbut what they can do is they can vote with their feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

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