Earlier this month, dozens of locals, government officials, and city leaders waited in line for the International Homecoming Festival’s opening ceremony on the American side of the downtown border bridge that connects Calais and St. Stephen.
With activities on both sides of the St. Croix River, it is now in its 52nd year and is a days-long celebration of friendship and camaraderie across borders.
They march onto the bridge behind a color guard from the American Legion.
A kilted bagpiper leads a delegation from St. Stephen out to greet them.
The two groups unite in the center of the international bridge.
This year’s event’s slogan is “We hug it out.”
From St. Stephen, Brian Cornish serves on the council.
“Whatever happens in politics, doesn’t happen in Calais and St. Stephen,” he stated. “We still adore Americans, and we hope they feel the same way about us. It’s as easy as that.
However, Calais firms may find that love is insufficient to retain their Canadian customers.
Monthly border crossings into Calais have decreased by almost a third from the previous year after President Donald Trump implemented 25% tariffs on a number of Canadian goods in March, to which Canada retaliated with matching penalties.
The loss is reverberating throughout the town and is consistent with a statewide trend.
Calvin Walker stands before a massive riding lawnmower at Johnson’s True Value Hardware shop in Calais.
“This particular mower is a commercial model. He stated, “This sells for about $12,000.” “This is like the Cadillac of all mowers.”
Walker is a salesperson. He thinks that up until a few months ago, around one-third of his clients were Canadian, and they tended to purchase expensive goods like kayaks, grills, and lawn mowers.
Prior to the tariffs, that is.
Walker claimed that although he has tried to attract Canadian consumers with discounts, the flow of cross-border business has reduced to a trickle.
“I mean, I don’t believe these tariffs are good for any of us in this border communities, or any of the border communities in our country for that matter,” he stated.
Walker said he voted for Trump, much like most voters in Washington County. However, he worries about how the president’s trade strategy would affect things in the long run.
The loss of Canadian customers is being felt differently in Calais.
Because there are fewer Canadian consumers, sales have decreased by 10% to 35%, according to a number of grocery and retail companies.
However, a number of restaurant proprietors in the downtown area stated they haven’t noticed any changes.
According to Marcia Rogers, the mayor of Calais, Canada’s reciprocal tariff is actually having the most local effect since it deters people from New Brunswick from carrying products back across the border.
“Retail businesses, it’s hurt more than our restaurants, because obviously they’re not bringing something back,” she stated.
Retailers like Heather Henry-Tenan are now rushing to make up the deficit as a result.
We made a lot of fast turns, don’t we? “What other options do we have?” she said.
Henry-Tenan entered the package hub, a tiny warehouse crammed with cardboard boxes, at her family’s company, C & E Feeds, on a recent afternoon.
“It looks like a lot of packages here, but I’m telling you, this is empty,” she replied.
Over 10,000 Canadian clients are usually served by her, she added, and they can have their packages delivered here to save money on expensive foreign shipping. After that, they physically come to pick them up.
However, Henry-Tenan claimed that revenue fell by 50% practically immediately after the tariffs were implemented. To try to reach more people, she opened an internet store and a garden supply center. Although she said it’s still below pre-tariff levels, that has helped compensate for a large portion of the revenue she lost.
There are indications that President Trump’s trade war is having a long-term negative impact on Canadian consumers across the river in St. Stephen, during the morning rush at the downtown Tim Hortons.
Rose Mitchell, a pre-K teacher in St. Stephen, said, “We took such pride in our St. Stephen and Calais, Maine relationship, and it’s really hurting that relationship,” while she and her friends were eating breakfast.
Mitchell claimed that she went shopping twice a week or so, usually for school supplies but also occasionally for clothes, across the border.
“As the tariffs go up, of course I’ll still go for gas,” she replied. “But probably nothing else.”
Calais and St. Stephen have survived significant drops in border crossings in the wake of 9/11 and, more recently, during the COVID-19 outbreak, according to Calais Mayor Marcia Rogers, as consumers and business owners alike struggle with the new trade war economics.
“We’ve been partners, family members, neighbors for two centuries now, and we will make it through this,” added Rogers.
She claims that although federal administrations change, the two communities’ friendship across the border will endure.
