President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Monday that it would pause a plan to impose tariffs of 25 percent on imported goods from Canada and Mexico — welcome news to Vermont officials and business leaders.
Industries in the Green Mountain State rely on millions of dollars worth of imports from neighboring countries. They also faced the prospect of steep retaliatory tariffs threatened by Mexico’s and Canada’s leaders if the tariffs went into effect on Tuesday as planned. The pause is good for 30 days.
“The U.S. exports a tremendous amount of dairy to Mexico,” said Anson Tebbetts, secretary of the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. A disruption to that trade relationship, he said, could lower the price Vermont farmers get for their milk.
Tebbetts noted that Vermont agricultural businesses also import hay, grain and wood shavings that are used for animal bedding from Canada, which is Vermont’s largest trading partner. Maple syrup producers import sugaring equipment. Tebbetts said the uncertainty is making it difficult for farmers and business owners to plan.
“In my conversations over the past week, this has created a lot of chatter: ‘What do I do? How do I react? Do I react?’” Tebbetts said.
Trump’s plan, announced on Saturday, called for a 10 percent surcharge on Canadian fuel, so the president’s reversal was a relief for Matt Cota. He runs the trade association Meadow Hill, which advocates for the energy and transportation industries.
On Monday evening, Cota said he’d had a busy day trying to help his customers to prepare for the impending tariffs, a complicated matter for companies that have fixed-price fuel contracts with many of their customers.
The delay until March, Cota said, will be a game changer for the heating fuel side of the business, because most of the heating season will be over.
“The cold will have dissipated, and the demand will have decreased,” Cota said.
But there is still plenty of work ahead for Cota, who will be helping his fuel industry members plan for delivering supplies to their customers without raising prices.
U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who on Friday held a virtual roundtable discussion about the impact of planned cutbacks to federal grants, said in an emailed statement on Monday evening that Trump was making it clear he didn’t mind raising taxes.
“President Trump temporarily backtracking on his Trade War does nothing to give Vermont families, businesses, and farms the economic stability they deserve,” Welch said.
One business watching the developments closely was Jay Peak Resort. The ski area is just a few miles south of Québec; most of its customers come from Canada.
“Our relationship has survived border crossing reductions and closings, global pandemics, domestic tragedies, jittery economies and fluctuating exchange rates, tough winters, cold summers and just about anything else that could be dreamed up,” the resort’s manager, Steve Wright, wrote to customers on Monday.
Wright said he realized politics might keep Canadians away from Vermont this winter — though he let them know that it’s been a good season for snow.
“I respect the difficulty of reconciling your love of a place with any political motivations keeping you from even this, the most special of places,” he wrote. “If your plans do not include Jay this winter, we’ll be here, as we always have been, when this particular tide turns. Enjoy the rest of your winter, and an expectedly long spring, wherever you land.”
Asked how business leaders can prepare for continued uncertainty, Tebbetts said the state’s leaders are trying to figure out what guidance to offer.
“We’re going to learn a lot about trade and tariffs over the next few weeks, and maybe the next couple of years,” he said.
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This article appears in Jan 29 – Feb 4, 2025.
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