Just over the Canadian border from Haines and Skagway, Ranj Pillai runs the show. He’s the premier of the Yukon territory’s government – and the territory’s minister of economic development.
So he has strong feelings about President Donald Trump’s trade war, which the White House says is meant to boost U.S. manufacturing and supply chains.
“We’re seeing just this absolute desolation of the U.S. markets because of a decision that really never had to be made,” Pillai said in a recent interview with KHNS. “We think there’s other ways to strengthen both the U.S. and Canadian economy to make sure there’s more jobs in manufacturing back in North America.”
He also has a request for his American neighbors.
“We also want to make sure that the folks in both Haines and Skagway are reaching out to anybody they can to send the message that this is incredibly damaging,” Pillai said.
Residents and leaders in both towns have taken steps to do so, including a rally in Skagway where participants left animated voicemails for lawmakers and a recent “Canadian Neighbors Appreciation Weekend” in Haines.
The last few months have seen a chaotic rollout of Trump’s international trade policy. Earlier this year, for example, Trump announced – and then paused – 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada, China and Mexico. He later threatened to impose so-called “reciprocal tariffs” on many U.S. trading partners – sending markets into a tailspin – before pausing some of those, too.
But some of the policies have stuck, including 145% import taxes on China and 25% tariffs on U.S. imports of steel, aluminum and cars. Pillai is particularly worried about the latter.
“One major component can have 10 crossings through the border,” he said. “And every time that part crosses the border, in the current context, you’re going to have tariffs put upon it. So it’s going to really increase the cost of both U.S. vehicles and Canadian vehicles.”
Pillai said it’s clear the policies are coming from Washington, D.C., not Alaska, Haines or Skagway. And he said that Alaskans’ support for Canada has been widely appreciated.
That includes testimony against the tariffs from Skagway assembly members at the state legislature. And the Haines assembly gave Mayor Tom Morphet the green light in February to write the mayors of Whitehorse and Haines Junction, voicing the importance of cross-border relationships.
Still, there’s a growing movement in Canada to boycott the U.S. in response to the tariffs – and in response to Trump’s repeated comments about the country becoming the fifty-first state. The Yukon government, for its part, has generally avoided advising Canadians how they should approach visiting or doing business in Alaska.
“We want to make sure that our kids continue to play sports with each other. We want to make sure that these events like the Buckwheat are as successful as they always are,” Pillai said, referring to an international ski race that draws Alaskans and Canadians every year. “But we’re not going to give a direction to an organization.”
At a higher level, Canada has responded by imposing some $155 billion in retaliatory tariffs, Pillai said. Some territories, including the Yukon, have also responded by directly targeting Trump advisor Elon Musk.
That includes eliminating rebates for Yukoners who purchase Teslas, shifting government communications off Musk’s app, X, and considering how to reduce the territory’s reliance on another of his businesses: Starlink.
“There will be some times that the government, in the current situation of dealing with forest fires and floods and being in remote areas, will still use some of the remote units,” Pillai said. “But over time, I think our big push is to have a Canadian solution.”
