For anyone who thinks that what is happening in Washington isn’t having a profound effect on life in Vermont, think again. It began with neighbors being fired from USAID and has evolved into destabilizing commerce with Vermont’s biggest trade partner, Canada. In addition, President Trump’s irresponsible rhetoric about Canada is having a profoundly negative impact on our tourism.
Research at UVM is threatened with funding cuts, and international students studying at our colleges are having their visas revoked and challenged. And sadly, last week, Windsor County had one of its legal residents, Mohsen Madawi, taken into custody by ICE. He is being detained in Vermont and is lucky to have a good lawyer who immediately filed a writ of habeas corpus (which kept him from being taken from Vermont) and a very supportive community.
In this unsettling environment, the Vermont Legislature continues to work on all of its priorities but also has to address the impact these federal actions are having on our constituents and economy.
On April 9 and 10, the Senate Economic Development Committee, which I chair, and the House Commerce Committee held two joint hearings at the State House. The first addressed the challenges Vermont and Canada face with the trade war and tariffs the Trump Administration is determined to enact, and the second addressed the state of tourism in Vermont, which is increasingly affected by Canadians boycotting travel to Vermont.
Last week, Senate Economic Development took up S.R.11, the Senate’s resolution urging President Trump to repeal the Canadian tariffs.
Not surprisingly, in these hearings, we heard how interdependent our Vermont/Canadian economies are—so many of our manufacturers source materials and production in Canada, and vice versa. From our bakeries which source grains in Quebec, to our maple syrup producers, which source the equipment and parts needed for sugar, to ski companies who source components and manufacture in Canada, to the sawmills in Canada, which mill our lumber for use in all types of construction — we heard time and again of the cross-border nature of production and manufacturing seamlessly sewn into our economy. All of this is being turned upside down because of the current 10% tariffs, the destabilizing threat of additional tariffs, and the imposition of the devastating 25% tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. And, as a result, business optimism on both sides of the border has plummeted.
In response to these increasingly strained relations between our countries, the Senate is writing S.R.11, a resolution designed to reaffirm our strong relationship with Canada. It calls on President Trump to remove all tariffs he has imposed on Canadian imports and asks him to refrain from imposing any new tariffs. It articulates how much we value our Canadian bonds: economic, cultural, and familial; how important our military and diplomatic ally is to us; and how much we value Canadian investments in Vermont’s economy, which supports over 17,000 jobs. In addition, the resolution discusses how crucial the Canadian electric supply from Hydro-Quebec is to Vermont and cites the 2023 figures to underscore how important the economic impact of our partnership is: $680 million in goods and $165 million in services exported to Canada, and the $2.6 billion in goods imported to Vermont.
This resolution has the overwhelming support of the Vermont Legislature — the House passed one similar earlier this session.
Sen. Alison Clarkson can be reached by email at [email protected], by phone at the Statehouse (Tues-Fri) 802-828-2228, or at home (Sat-Mon) 802- 457-4627.
