{"id":224012,"date":"2026-09-13T06:36:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T06:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/tensions-simmer-on-us-canada-border-for-two-towns-relying-on-each-other-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-09-13T06:36:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T06:36:23","slug":"tensions-simmer-on-us-canada-border-for-two-towns-relying-on-each-other-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/tensions-simmer-on-us-canada-border-for-two-towns-relying-on-each-other-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Tensions simmer on US-Canada border for two towns relying on each other – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canadians \u2018angry\u2019 at Trump for suggesting Canada should become 51st state, says mayor, as US businesses see sales fall amid trade war
Like many Canadians, Tom Reid isn\u2019t crossing the US-Canada border as often these days. But he needed a haircut.
The woman who cuts his hair lives in International Falls, Minnesota \u2013 her \u201csister is married to my wife\u2019s cousin\u201d, he explained \u2013 and so Reid, whose duty free shop in Fort Frances, Ontario, has to travel to her.
That\u2019s how it goes for the residents of the two towns, divided by the Rainy River and an international border. They\u2019re longtime friends and, in many cases, family. People cross the border frequently to shop, dine, go bowling, take their kids to sports and visit each other.
But Trump\u2019s trade war against the US\u2019s northern neighbor, and his derogatory comments about their country, has Canadians \u2013 known for their politeness \u2013 angry. Furious, actually<\/a>. They\u2019re shopping less at US businesses, and, in an unusual<\/a> show of patriotism, encouraging consumers to \u201cbuy Canadian instead<\/a>\u201d.
Reid is buying Canadian more and more, he said at the register in his shop, with the Canadian flag on the wall behind him. \u201cI don\u2019t have that much choice, eh?\u201d he said.
A<\/span>merican business owners have seen declines in Canadian sales, while grappling with the uncertainty and costs associated with tariffs on their products. With tourist season winding down, and the leaves starting to change into yellows and oranges, the two towns are quieter.
Canada\u2019s retaliatory tariffs went into force<\/a> this week, though no one who lived in the towns had seen that directly reflected in prices yet. It was the latest heated battle between the two countries in the last nearly two years.
The mayors of the two towns call each other friends, and signed a joint declaration in 2025 affirming that friendship after Trump retook the White House. The flags of Minnesota, Ontario, both towns, and both countries fly outside the town offices in Fort Frances. But there\u2019s only so much \u2013 and really, nothing \u2013 that a local official can do to blunt the economic effects of slipshod tariffs put in place by one man, more than a thousand miles away in Washington.
Most Canadians recognize this, according to Andrew Hallikas, the mayor of Fort Frances. They like Americans, and Fort Frances residents can relate to Minnesotans a lot: they share similar interests, in the outdoors and in community, he said. But they\u2019re \u201cirate\u201d at Trump \u2013 for bullying their country, for going against an ally \u2013 and for suggesting Canada should become the 51st US state.
\u201cYou cannot imagine how angry that makes us,\u201d Hallikas said. \u201cPlease quote me on this. I cannot make this clear enough: we will never become the 51st state. We consider ourselves to probably be the best country in the world in which to live, and we\u2019re quite content to remain that way, thank you very much.\u201d
For two towns that rely on each other, the tension of the trade war simmers underneath the surface. They all want it to end. They don\u2019t know how, or when, it will.
As the Guardian interviewed the mayor of International Falls at a coffee shop on the town\u2019s main drag, a Fort Frances resident interjected angrily to tell the mayor that Canadians are \u201cso pissed off\u201d at Trump for how he\u2019s attacked their country and that International Falls needed Canadians to survive. Their town was suffering, and their businesses losing longtime customers from Canada, because of it, he said.
\u201cI\u2019m originally from the Falls, but I\u2019m an American living in Canada,\u201d the man said. \u201cI\u2019m scared to put that American flag on my shirt, what he\u2019s done.\u201d
Residents, and the leaders of the towns, are worried about how they will rebuild the relationship between their two countries if this continues for much longer. Businesses will find other suppliers. Shoppers will replace their favorites with homegrown options. The sense of nationalism hardens.
\u201cWe just hope for the best at this point,\u201d said the International Falls mayor, Drake Dill.
G<\/span>rant Hauschild, a Democratic Minnesota state senator who represents 65% of the state\u2019s border with Canada, said he\u2019s heard from businesses that have lost up to 30% of their revenue from Canadians. With people already struggling with inflation and high costs, he said a hit like that goes from \u201ca concern to devastation\u201d.
\u201cMy hope is, of course, that the relationship goes back to normal once we pass these chaotic times,\u201d Hauschild said. \u201cI think that\u2019s what really scares me most \u2026 Even if people want to go back to the way things were, they might have unfortunately kind of moved on \u2013 and moved beyond \u2013 the relationship.\u201d
To cross the Rainy River into either side, people use a toll bridge, with the cost for an average car now $10. They present documents to customs agents on whichever side they\u2019re entering, and answer questions about their purpose in town. People who cross regularly recognize the agents and ask after their families.
The main parts of each respective town sit on either side of the crossing, with both towns initially growing around paper mills. Fort Frances\u2019 mill has since closed; International Falls\u2019 is still running. Fort Frances is larger than International Falls, and because Canada is more sparse, Fort Frances serves as a regional hub. Its hospital will soon be getting an MRI machine \u2013 a huge boon for its aging population.
The shops on either side carry gifts from both countries, catering to tourists who fly in to fish, mostly for walleye, and largely on the Canadian side. In a Fort Frances store, kids books called \u201cLittle Minnesota\u201d and \u201cLittle Canada\u201d sat right beside each other on a shelf. In International Falls, shelves of souvenir cups carried designs for International Falls and Canada.
While Canadian flags line the shop windows and fly throughout downtown Fort Frances, Hallikas said this is not a reflection of increased patriotism, but just a border town welcoming visitors to their country. The two towns are \u201cneighbors by geography, but we are friends by choice\u201d, he said.
\u201cThe bridge is over 100 years old, and we\u2019ve been going back and forth it for over 100 years,\u201d Hallikas said. \u201cBefore that, there was a ferry. But our friendship is still going to exist when Trump is long gone.\u201d
Dill, the International Falls mayor, owned a business and lived in Canada for 11 years. Many of his friends are Canadian. This fall, he will go up to an island in Canada to meet up with friends.
\u201cThere\u2019s no politics in that. There\u2019s no thought of exchange rate, or trade war, or tariffs. It\u2019s just \u2013 we\u2019re friends,\u201d he said. \u201cBut then you come home and you talk and you watch the news. \u2026 I would be really disappointed if it gets to a point where we can\u2019t work through it, and there\u2019s a fundamental change that will hurt International Falls significantly.\u201d
Residents on both sides have favorite products they grab whenever they cross. For Heather Johnson, executive director of the Fort Frances chamber of commerce, it\u2019s Top the Tater, an iconic Minnesota chive and onion dip. She also checks prices on cheeses, and peruses the wider variety of pastas for sale in US stores. Johnson bowls weekly in a league in International Falls, made up of both Americans and Canadians.
Leanne Guba, a Canadian who owns Hometown Hobby and Crafts in International Falls, crosses back into her home country once or twice a month, usually walking across the bridge, to buy ketchup chips, chocolate bars and Dad\u2019s brand oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
American liquor is no longer on the shelves at government-run Ontario liquor stores, by order of Premier Doug Ford. The push to buy Canadian is \u201cpretty well elbows-up\u201d, Johnson said. \u201cI\u2019m drinking Canadian red wine now.\u201d
Reid, the duty-free shop owner, said the tourist season was about average for him, with no noticeable decline in sales. He has seen some change in his customers.
A couple of years ago, they\u2019d come in with the signature red Maga (Make America Great Again) hats. Last year, not as many. This year, he didn\u2019t see any red hats, and customers would tell him they didn\u2019t vote for Trump. They\u2019ll ask about the missing American bourbon from his shelves, and he\u2019ll tell them, \u201cMr T took care of that\u201d.
He used to cross the border to go to a show, or the grocery store, or Menard\u2019s, a hardware store, but not anymore. His daughter and her husband used to cross weekly for a date night and shopping, but no longer. People over here are \u201creally upset\u201d with Trump, he said. It has renewed his sense of Canadian pride, but \u201cI\u2019ve always had good pride\u201d.
Johnson, whose kids are now grown, said: \u201cI\u2019m glad that my kids grew up knowing both countries, and they know that there really isn\u2019t a difference in people.\u201d
A<\/span>cross the border in International Falls, craft store owner Guba said she was seeing fewer Canadians, for several reasons. They\u2019re dealing with rising costs, too, and the exchange rate is unfavorable. Some of it is politics, she said. Canadian regulars are coming less frequently.
\u201cThey\u2019re definitely being a little more picky about when they come over or being more careful about what they buy,\u201d she said.
The decline, while dealing with unpredictable tariffs on goods she brings in from overseas, has had an impact on her business. She\u2019s adapted by seeking out new suppliers, bringing in new merchandise lines, and trying to reduce costs. She has a few companies she orders from in Canada \u2013 including a toy brand and a puzzle company \u2013 and expects the new tariffs will likely increase costs on those products.
People are upset about the political dynamics, but they don\u2019t tend to vent their political frustrations openly, she said. There may be the odd joke here and there, but not usually full-blown political debate. \u201cWe tend to try to stay friendly,\u201d she said.
The latest tourist season was \u201cdecent\u201d, she said. \u201cOverall, we\u2019re still surviving \u2026 You can\u2019t really control it.\u201d
It\u2019s tough to gauge the full impact of declining Canadian spending in the border town, though anecdotally, people are noticing it. The International Halls chamber of ommerce wouldn\u2019t comment on the impact of the tariffs, or deteriorating relationship between the two countries, on the town.
\u201cWe remain neutral on political matters so that we can best serve our diverse membership, which includes individuals and organizations with a wide range of views. Because of that, the Chamber does not have an official comment on the political issues surrounding the US-Canada relationship,\u201d the chamber said in an email.
Isaac Johnson, who owns the Coffee Landing caf\u00e9 in International Falls and lives above it with his wife, said he still sees a lot of Canadians who come over to grab espresso and breakfast. He loves his Canadian customers, including the couple he watched meet up at the coffee shop from across the border. They later married.
The locals are caught in the middle of political games, said Johnson, who tries to just focus on himself, his family, and his faith. But people do get emotional about it at times, and \u201cif you definitely bring up politics, for sure,\u201d he said \u2013 just as the man who confronted Dill, the mayor, did.
The man, who didn\u2019t share his name or want to have a longer conversation with a reporter, said he\u2019s noticed far fewer Canadians around town, nothing like it used to be. He described Canadians as \u201cvery pissed off\u201d and said snowbirds were selling their houses in the US. International Falls voters went for Trump in 2024.
These broader issues, like the trade war, \u201cpit us against each other\u201d, Johnson said, noting that the man got mad at the mayor \u201cover a guy that\u2019s making billions off us all\u201d.
\u201cI love the Canadians, I love Americans, and I love them coming over here and enjoying what we have here, and we can go and enjoy what they have,\u201d Johnson said.
D<\/span>ill, the town\u2019s mayor, said Canadians are \u201cdefinitely\u201d not coming to International Falls as much as they were, though he thinks it has more to do with the exchange rate. Still, he said later, \u201cwe need all the Canadian commerce we can get, and I would like to think they feel the same way\u201d.
Local officials are in a tough position. They have no control over the tariffs, though with their communities at the center of the impact, they are expected to answer questions and concerns over levies. They have no direct line to the Trump administration, if that would even make a difference. And their communities are suffering.
Hauschild, the Minnesota state senator, said he meets regularly with the Canadian consulate in St Paul, and reiterates his belief in a strong relationship with Canada. But as a state lawmaker, he has little to no control over any of it, beyond using his bully pulpit.
Hallikas, the Fort Frances mayor, said most Canadians have \u201cno rancor for individual Americans\u201d and treat them kindly when they visit, largely avoiding talking about Trump or American politics. Americans will have to work to undo the damage Trump has done to the relationship between the two countries, and that will take time, even after the trade war simmers down or ends, he said.
\u201cBut we\u2019ll still be friends with the folks in Minnesota and International Falls,\u201d Hallikas said.
Dill said he doesn\u2019t often run into the frustrations directed at him by the man in the coffee shop, though it happens. He doesn\u2019t have any way he can directly fix the issue.
\u201cThe US elected our current president and he has his own agenda and I don\u2019t see that I can stop it,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t want it to affect us locally. We\u2019ll see. Hope springs eternal. I mean, I thought that everything was going along fine, but apparently it wasn\u2019t.\u201d
The uncertainty of it all is \u201cfrustrating\u201d, and he\u2019s most curious about where it all lands, when a truce could be signed so that businesses can have a sense of comfort in planning for their futures. The two countries are engaged in a heated dispute \u2013 or a \u201cdonnybrook,\u201d as they would say in Canada, noted Dill.
He likened the current situation to two longtime best friends, who hunted and fished and vacationed together for years \u2013 until one of them said, you\u2019ve been taking advantage of me for years.
\u201cThat\u2019s like driving a nail in a fence,\u201d he said, \u201cand then you pull it out, and even if the fence still stands, there\u2019s a hole where the nail was.\u201d<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canadians \u2018angry\u2019 at Trump for suggesting Canada should become 51st state, says mayor, as US businesses see sales fall amid trade warLike many Canadians, Tom Reid isn\u2019t crossing the US-Canada border as often these days. But he needed a haircut.The woman who cuts his hair lives in International Falls, Minnesota \u2013 her \u201csister is married […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":224013,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-224012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}