Border crossings from Canada into the U.S. dropped 17 percent in February 2025 when compared with the same month in 2024, data show. Trips declined as Canadians expressed anger over President Donald Trump’s tariffs and his statements about annexing their country. Canadians face unfavorable exchange rates, as well. The decrease in Vermont appears to be lower, said state Treasurer Mike Pieciak. He analyzed data of private vehicle crossings at Highgate Springs and Derby Line, where Interstates 89 and 91 end at the border, and also added in three other crossings: Richford, Norton and Beecher Falls. Combined, traffic was down 8 percent, he said. Tourism businesses get most of their Canadian visitors in the spring, summer and fall, and Pieciak said he expected the drop to be more pronounced as the weather warms. Canada, Vermont’s largest trading partner, has made its unhappiness with recent U.S. policy well-known in recent weeks. Canadian visitors also face lower buying power in the U.S. due to a weakened Canadian dollar that hovered around $1.43 per U.S. dollar last week — a 6 percent drop since September. It’s impossible to measure how much of the decline in Canadian traffic is prompted by sentiment versus the exchange rate. But it’s hitting particularly hard in northern Vermont, which has had business and family ties across the border for centuries, said Rep. Mike Marcotte (R-Coventry), who owns the Jimmy Kwik gas station and convenience store in Newport. He noted that the region’s two largest visitor attractions, Jay Peak Resort and the Kingdom Trails bicycle path network in Burke, rely on Canadians for a substantial proportion of their visits. As Seven Days previously reported, both have said that guests have cancelled reservations. “They’re not happy, and you can’t blame them,” said Marcotte, whose in-laws live in Québec. “The 51st-state joke is not appealing to them.” Karine Cantin, who co-owns Auberge Le Sunshine, a bed and breakfast and café in the Québec town of Stanstead, said U.S. customers frequently apologize to her for the threats and directives issued from Washington, D.C. After the U.S. government announced this month that it would make it more difficult for Canadians to enter the border-straddling Haskell Free Library & Opera house by making them go through Customs, Cantin said, customers expressed sorrow. “[Americans] came in to tell us, ‘We don’t want that to happen,’” Cantin said. “They want more synergy between our countries.” Cantin… ...read more read less