STAFF REPORTNorth Country This Week

LISBON — Democratic congressional candidate Blake Gendebien is calling for an end to the U.S. Canada trade dispute, saying tariffs imposed by both countries could hurt North Country farmers, small businesses and families.

Canada announced retaliatory tariffs Tuesday on nearly $20 billion in American goods in response to President Trump's 50% tariff on Canadian imports over the weekend, according to a statement released by Gendebien's campaign. The announcement followed the collapse of trade talks between the two countries.

“Nothing about these tariffs lowers costs for anyone,” Gendebien said. “As a farmer and a small business owner, I feel it in real time. It drives up what it costs us to do business, and that gets passed straight down to families at the grocery store.”

Gendebien, a dairy farmer who serves as vice chairman of the Agri-Mark cooperative board, said he recognizes longstanding disagreements over Canadian dairy market access but believes the region's economic ties with Canada are too important to jeopardize.

“I'll be the first to say Canada hasn't always played fair on dairy market access,” Gendebien said. “But, this administration keeps launching wars, both on the battlefield and in trade, and it's our farmers, small business owners, and working families in the North Country who are left paying the price through higher costs and uncertainty they can't plan around.”

Gendebien's statement points to traffic at the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge as an indication of the importance of cross-border commerce to the region.

Recent figures from the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority, however, show that traffic has been improving. In July, the bridge recorded 44,667 automobile crossings, with total crossings of approximately 51,600. Overall traffic was up about 17.5% compared with July of the previous year, according to Executive Director Anthony Adamczyk.

Despite the year-over-year increase, traffic remained below pre-pandemic levels. Adamczyk said overall traffic was still about 23% below 2019 levels.

The authority also remained behind its 2019 revenue levels. Year to date, it had lost approximately $529,230 in revenue compared with 2019, Adamczyk said.

The July figures prompted some optimism from bridge officials, although they cautioned that the improvement has not eliminated the longer-term gap.

“Things are improving slightly,” Burns said. “At least we're heading in the right direction.”

The latest tariff measures could add another source of uncertainty for businesses and consumers on both sides of the border. Gendebien said Canada's countertariffs, scheduled to take effect Sept. 8, will target sectors including dairy and agricultural equipment.

“Canada isn't our rival, they're our neighbors and our customers, and it's time Washington started acting like it,” Gendebien said.