Alaskans are bracing for impact as the White House rolls out steep tariffs on goods imported from Canada, China and Mexico.
President Donald Trump first announced his proposed tariffs in early February, when he said the U.S. would slap 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico and 10% tariffs on goods from China. The administration then paused the policy after Canada and Mexico agreed to take steps to crack down on border security.
The tariffs took effect on Tuesday and included a higher tax on Chinese goods. The move immediately sparked retaliatory tariffs from China and Canada. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would respond later this week.
In Alaska, the news reignited concerns about the policy’s potential to send prices skyward – and to damage the state’s relationship with Canada.
Those concerns are especially acute in the border towns of Haines and Skagway. Mike Healy owns Skagway Brewing Company. It’s the biggest restaurant in the small, coastal tourist town – and one of the few that’s open right now.
He said tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods could hit his operation in a range of ways. The obvious one is food prices.
“We know that our food costs are going to go up, our purveyors have indicated so. Much of our produce comes from Mexico,” Healy said. “So that’s going to be for Skagway Brewing company but also just [the] general public.”
But an even bigger concern, he said, is that the Trump administration’s policy could blunt the flow of visitors from the town’s nearest neighbor, Canada. Healey said Canadians may take into consideration that towns like Haines and Skagway have no control over the policy. But there’s no guarantee.
“There’s a movement in a lot of Canada to boycott travel to the U.S. as a result of the tariffs and a couple other things,” Healy said. “And we don't know how that’s going to play out.”
The trend already appears to be hitting Haines.
The borough’s tourism director, Rebecca Hylton, was not available for an interview. But she said in a text message that she’s spent the weekend at an outdoor adventure and travel show in Vancouver, where she spoke with at least a dozen people who said they were sympathetic to the two communities. But they have still chosen not to travel to Alaska this year.
“People were kind but also steadfast in their position,” Hylton said.
Also top of mind for many residents in the area is how the tariffs might affect local businesses or residents who travel to Canada to purchase groceries or other goods.
Agents at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection stations in Haines, Skagway and Anchorage said they could not comment on how the tariffs will be enforced at the Canadian border. They directed KHNS to other contacts within the agency, who have not responded to requests for comment.
But locals have started contacting the Skagway Port of Entry themselves – with mixed results.
Skagway resident Deb Boettcher said she spoke with agents at the border twice on Tuesday. The first time, an agent told her a 25% tax would be applied to all Canadian goods brought through the border. The second time, an agent said their understanding was that anyone who purchases Canadian products for personal use and brings them back into Alaska would not be subject to the tariffs. But businesses likely would be.
Gregory Wolf, the president of the Alaska International Business Center, said in an interview last month that trade policies do not typically target residents crossing the border with groceries or other goods. He said the tariffs might affect local businesses, depending on what products they buy in Canada and how much they cost.
“The idea is more for large scale importers, exporters, where you're talking about millions of dollars — in some cases, hundreds of millions of dollars,” Wolf said. “That's where the tariffs will really have an impact.”
Alaskan officials at the state and local levels have scrambled to preserve Alaska’s long standing relationship with the neighboring country.
That includes a resolution moving through the state legislature that emphasizes the importance of the relationship between Alaska and Canada – and signals opposition to trade policies that would disrupt it. The resolution, which cleared the Senate Special Committee on Arctic Affairs last week, notes that Alaska imports more than $750 million in Canadian goods each year.
Trump’s statement on Monday that the tariffs would take effect Tuesday came amid speculation that he might soften the policy – or reverse it – in response to negotiations with Mexico and Canada.
