Trump Now Says Tariffs on Canadian Goods Will Start Next Week

President Donald Trump declared Thursday that he’ll impose 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada starting next week.

Trump had previously announced plans for the tariffs but then put them on hold. Tuesday morning, he said on his social media network, Truth Social, that they’ll go into effect on March 4.

Trump’s announcement said only that he was reinstating the plan because Mexico and Canada aren’t doing enough to stop drugs from crossing into the U.S.

“We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA, and therefore, until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled,” the post says. “China will likewise be charged an additional 10% Tariff on that date.”

Vermont businesses that rely on imports from Canada have been trying to prepare for a jump in costs.

Vermont Gas imports nearly all of its natural gas from Canada. The company has been evaluating how tariffs would affect customer rates, said Dylan Giambatista, its director of public affairs. While it’s not clear what amount would be levied on gas imports, Giambatista said, some part would be passed on to the company’s  56,000 customers in Franklin, Chittenden and Addison counties.

When Trump threatened additional tariffs in January, he singled out goods imported from Mexico, Canada and China. He reversed his decision before the Canadian and Mexican tariffs went into effect, but did impose a 10 percent additional levy on Chinese goods. Another 10 percent will be added to Chinese goods on March 4, he said in his post.

Vermont’s congressional delegation and state officials have convened groups of business owners to assess how tariffs would affect the state’s economy. Canada is Vermont’s largest trading partner, sending goods worth $2.6 billion to the state each year, according to the Canadian Consulate General in Boston.

State Treasurer Mike Pieciak has been collecting information from Vermont businesses and trade experts about the likely impact of tariffs. “The bottom line is clear: they will increase prices for consumers,” he said in a prepared statement Thursday.

“I fear these tariffs will do lasting damage to the close bonds we share with our neighbor to the North,” he wrote. “I urge the White House to reconsider the financial impact these tariffs will have on families, workers and businesses nationwide.”

High Mowing Organic Seeds, a Wolcott company with 52 workers, has been buying more seed than usual from its Canadian sources to stock up before any tariffs are imposed, CEO Andrea Tursini said Thursday. Meanwhile, High Mowing’s Canadian customers have told the company they are looking for Canadian sources of seed, Tursini said on Thursday.

“That’s partly about the threat of tariffs, and it’s also definitely about the relationship between Canada and the U.S. right now,” Tursini said.

Canadians have been angered not only by Trump’s tariff threats but also his stated desire to annex the country. Some Canadians are canceling trips to Vermont tourist attractions that rely heavily upon them.

Vermont’s maple industry would be affected by new tariffs, said Cory Krieg, a maple syrup distributor who runs a company called the Vermont Maple Farmers Collective.

Last month, Krieg wrote in his newsletter for producers that Canada sends about 60 percent of its exported syrup to the U.S., where bulk buyers like Butternut Mountain Farm in Morrisville and Maple Grove in St. Johnsbury package it for chains such as Costco, Whole Foods and Target. Tariffs can affect the price of that syrup.

In an email to Seven Days, Krieg wrote: “And now we all wait with bated breath to see if the new tariffs kick in.”