MADAWASKA, Maine — At this point, it’s hard to tell whether any of President Donald Trump’s recent threats regarding Canada could come to fruition, from his assertion last weekend that it should become the 51st state, to the tariffs he announced at the start of this month before promptly delaying them.
But regardless of how they pan out, his proposals have produced strong reactions among people living near the Canadian border in northern Maine’s St. John Valley.
The region has many close ties with the northern neighbor, from businesses that straddle the international border, to citizens who regularly cross back and forth for work, shopping and visits to friends and family.
But as much as residents may identify with their neighbors just across the St. John River, many of them also support Trump, a Republican, after a political reshaping of the working class region that once leaned heavily Democratic.
On a recent morning at the Madawaska Tim Horton’s, a popular meeting spot less than half a mile from the border, residents expressed various opinions about the trade war and the new Trump administration.
As far-fetched as his proposal to annex Canada may sound, the idea appears to have at least one taker in the St. John Valley. While sipping coffee from a red cup featuring the image of a maple leaf, Madawaska resident Don Sirois said that he would favor Canada becoming the 51st state, given that it would make traveling abroad easier and likely increase tourism between the two countries.
“I would love it,” he said, “because you wouldn’t have to bother with the border.”
Canadians have not reacted as well to Trump’s statement. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau commented on Wednesday that the threat should be taken seriously, even if Canada is never going to join its southern neighbor.
While other St. John Valley residents downplayed the seriousness of Trump’s comment about annexation, many of them did acknowledge the real impact his threatened tariffs could have.
Trump signed an order for the tariffs on Canadian, Mexican and Chinese imports earlier this month — sparking announcements of retaliatory tariffs in response — but later announced that he would delay them against Mexico and Canada for 30 days in exchange for heightened border security.
Sirois, who said he worked for almost 50 years for Twin Rivers Paper Co. — which has mills in both Madawaska and its neighboring community in Canada, Edmundston — supports the implementation of the tariffs even though they would negatively affect consumers in the region.
“It will affect prices for sure,” he said. “Somebody’s going to pay for that. It’s not going to be the company, it’s going to be us, it’s going to be the people. That worries me, but Donald Trump has got everything under control.”
Sirois said that while many Americans go across the border and buy goods in Canada, the inverse is less common. He argued the tariffs would make trade more fair, and incentivize more people to work in America.
“You got signs everywhere — it’s ‘hiring, hiring, hiring,’” he said. They don’t want to work. The young people don’t want to work, and why should they work? They get free checks. They’re getting money. They don’t have to work.”
Sirois was joined in his support of the tariffs by John Paul Michaud of St. Agatha, another former Twin Rivers worker, and Daniel Corriveau of Madawaska, who identified himself as a former Democrat.
Corriveau said he felt the tariffs were being used as a bargaining tool and would result in long-term benefits.
“Everybody’s thinking, ‘He didn’t do this. He didn’t do that.’ But give him a chance,” Corriveau said.
Others in the region are more concerned about the tariffs.
Also in the Tim Horton’s, Bob Chasse, who grew up in Madawaska but now lives in the Caribou area, said he opposed them because they would make life more difficult and raise costs for people on both sides of the border.
“When you add 25 percent, or 10 percent, on the cost of anything, it’s going to make it more expensive,” he said.
Chasse also brushed off the threats of annexing Canada, just as he did with Trump’s threats to take back the Panama Canal after it was ceded to Panama under former President Jimmy Carter.
“It’s not ours,” Chasse said. “We can’t just go and take whatever we want, anywhere we want. And ‘If you don’t listen to me, I’m going to impose all these tariffs, and we won’t trade with you anymore.’ So that’s how I feel about that.”
Ed Textor, a Frenchville resident who was pumping gas in Madawaska earlier this month, said that he did not think the U.S. should be imposing tariffs.
“I’m glad for Canada, the way they’re going about it,” he said of the country’s originally announced plan to implement retaliatory tariffs.
Textor also expressed concern about how the change could affect prices in the area.
“That’s why I’m gassing up,” he said. “I’m checking down at the hardware store. I usually get industrial pine for 55 cents a board foot. I want to see if it’s coming from Canada or not, because if it is, it’s gonna go up.”
Reflecting on the larger debate over Trump’s trade war, Textor noted that he has not seen the tariff issue seriously change anyone’s political beliefs.
“I’ve got friends that are Republicans and Democrats,” he said. “And they’re still sticking with their parties, it seems like, for right now.”
