This Beach Town Relies on Canadians. Trump’s Taunts, Tariffs Could Keep Them Away: ‘We Need Them’

For the first time this summer, Lisa Kidd intends to fly a Canadian flag outside her Maine sandwich shop — a goodwill gesture to her northern neighbors who rev the economic engine of her seaside resort town but who may stay away in big numbers this year.

For two decades, Kidd has served cinnamon buns, lobster rolls, and Maine whoopie pies to visitors to her Ocean Park Sub & Grocery in Old Orchard Beach, many of whom make the annual summer trek down from Quebec for a week or two at the beach.

But many of those Quebecers are threatening to stay home this year — or at least not travel to the United States — due in part to the increasingly fraught relationship between the U.S. and Canada, driven largely by President Donald Trump's rhetorical provocations and tariffs. Reports indicate that Canadians are already cutting back drastically on cross-border trips, which could be bad news for American business owners like Kidd.

"I'm hoping for the best," Kidd told National Review, noting that her business has already survived the Great Recession and the Covid-19 pandemic. "But I do understand there are a lot of Canadians not coming, sort of in protest, which I can completely understand."

Few American tourist destinations are as reliant on Canadian tourists as Old Orchard Beach, an old-timey resort town 20 miles south of Portland with sandy beaches, an iconic pier, and a seaside amusement park with rollercoasters and a Ferris wheel.

Canadians have vacationed in "the Garden by the Sea" for over a century. The town's chamber of commerce estimates that 30 percent to 40 percent of its tourists are Canadian. Several local hotels have French names and signs that read "Bienvenue!"

Many Canadians have said they won't visit the U.S. because of Trump's tariffs and trolling; he's claimed that Canada is "ripping us off" and repeatedly called for the country to become the "51st state," possibly by using "economic force." But Old Orchard Beach found itself directly in the crossfire earlier this year when Canada's former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, responding to Trump's tariff threats, suggested that Canadians not vacation there.

"Canadians are hurt. Canadians are angry," Truedeau said during a press conference in early March. "We're going to choose to not go on vacation in Florida or Old Orchard Beach."

CNN dropped in to report on the blowback, as did some local and Canadian outlets. "Canadians to Maine: No, thanks!" a CNN headline read. The owner of a small Old Orchard Beach inn told CNN that most of his Canadian customers had canceled their reservations.

Other Old Orchard Beach business owners who spoke with National Review said they haven't seen that drastic of a response; most said it's too early to say if Canadians will boycott the town in big numbers, and if they do, whether other visitors will take their place.

"We're not in a panic mode," said J. J. Mokarzel, owner of the On the Beach Hotel, adding that he believes the media is overblowing the concerns.

Several business owners also said the bigger hurdle for Canadian visitors is an exchange rate that's near a 22-year-low for Candadians, leading to higher costs — critics say that argument is "smoke and mirrors" to distract people from the real problem: Trump.

Others just aren't talking at all, likely out of a reluctance to offend Canadians or to draw the ire of Trump's supporters. One Old Orchard Beach business owner, who declined to be named, said he received death threats after raising concerns in the media.

No one from the Old Orchard Beach Chamber of Commerce returned calls from a National Review reporter, and most members of the town council declined to speak about the potential impact of large numbers of Canadians skipping their vacations.

"It's polarizing," said Councilman Connor Rague. "People are afraid of losing business."

Rague called Trump's attacks on Canada "completely unnecessary" and said the president, through his language, is "messing with people's livelihoods."

"He's being a bully," Rague said of Trump, "and there is no reason to bully a neighbor that has been nothing but a good partner to our town and our state and our country."

Business owners and local leaders still want Canadians to visit, he said.

"We want them here," he said. "We need them here."

Fred Kennedy, owner of the Alouette Beach Resort in Old Orchard Beach, said he looks forward to hosting visitors from Canada who "bring a different sort of flare" to his hotel. He said he hasn't had any Canadian guests cancel specifically because of Trump's trolling, but he's received some "heartfelt" emails from Canadians telling him they won't be coming this year — he said he doesn't know how many have come from established guests.

He does worry that a boycott could break relationships with long-time guests who could travel somewhere else this summer and make that a new return destination.

"I'm not sure how this is all going to work out," Kennedy said. "I don't want to offend Canadians or discount their anger."

But Kennedy is among the Old Orchard Beach business owners who note that there are multiple factors in play, including new border regulations and a weak Canadian dollar.

"When the exchange rate is good, Old Orchard Beach is more attractive to [Canadians]," he said. "Their dollar goes further, and they're more willing to come and spend."

Mokarzel agreed that the "terrible exchange rate" is the "bigger problem for Canadians." He acknowledged that he's "certainly seeing less reservations at the moment from Canada," but he said he's not worried because he diversified his business after Covid.

Having in-demand, beach-front property should shield him from the worst effects of a Canadian boycott, he said. And he could get more American guests who would have traveled to Canada this summer but don't want to face Canadian scorn.

Mokarzel said he and other Old Orchard Beach business owners believe the lure of the beach will ultimately bring many otherwise reluctant Canadians back to town.

"We all kind of share the sentiment that once the weather warms up and people still want to go to the beach, then they've got to go to Old Orchard. That's where the beaches are," he said.

However, recent data out of Canada indicates that Canadians aren't bluffing.

According to the country's statistics office, Canadian resident return trips by air were down 2.4 percent in February from the same month in 2024, while return trips from the U.S. by road were down 23 percent. The drop-off worsened in March: Return trips from the U.S. by air were down 13.5 percent from March 2024, and returns by road were down 31.9 percent.

Canadians have historically meant big bucks for the U.S. tourism industry — more than 20 million Canadians traveled to the U.S. last year, generating $20.5 billion in spending and supporting about 140,000 American jobs, according to the U.S. Travel Association. Canadians have typically made up a quarter or more of all international visitors.

State tourism offices are now dropping their forecasts for Canadian visits in 2025.

With international travel already slowing, the nonprofit Visit California recently lowered its forecasted visitor spending this year from $166 billion to $160 billion, according to the Cal Matters news site. Canada is the second-largest source of international tourism dollars to California, behind only Mexico.

Maine typically gets about 900,000 Canadian visitors each year, but the Maine Office of Tourism is now projecting only about 675,000 in 2025, a 25 percent drop, according to a report in the Portland Press Herald.

One Old Orchard Beach business owner, who declined to be named, said this year could be worse than during Covid — when Canadians couldn't visit at all — because there won't be a Paycheck Protection Program to keep businesses afloat.

Other business owners seemed less concerned.

"We've weathered this storm before, because Canada totally closed the border for 19 months during Covid," said Carla Lafayette, who owns Lafayette Hotels with her husband. They have more than 30 hotels in New Hampshire and Maine, including Old Orchard Beach.

"I don't think it's going to be a huge impact. I may be wrong," she said, adding that her reservations are looking strong so far in Old Orchard. She said she hopes U.S. and Canadian leaders will "work things out and everybody will be happy again."

This week, Trump met with Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada at the White House, telling reporters "I have a lot of respect for this man," and vowing that "regardless of anything, we're going to be friends with Canada," which he called a "very special place."

But the meeting took an uncomfortable turn when Trump said he still believes Canada should become a U.S. state. Carney said Canada is "not for sale, won't be for sale, ever."

"Never say never," Trump replied. "Never," said Carney.

Trump also said there's nothing Carney could say to get him to back off his Canadian tariffs, adding that the U.S. should make its own steel and cars, and stop "subsidizing" Canada.

"We don't really want cars from Canada," he said with Carney seated next to him. "We really don't want Canadian steel, and we don't want Canadian aluminum, and various other things, because we want to be able to do it ourself."

Earlier that day on his Truth Social website, Trump wrote: "We don't need ANYTHING" from Canada, "other than their friendship."

In Old Orchard Beach, business owners and leaders seem baffled by Trump's strategy. Weren't the tariffs supposed to be about ending drug trafficking, one business owner asked. Rague said Trump is creating havoc. "Over what? I'm not really sure," he said.

"I don't understand a northern neighbor who's been a good neighbor as a target," said Kidd, the sandwich shop owner, who typically tries to be a-political. But she's frustrated by the ruffling of Canadian feathers. "I just think it's had terrible consequences for Maine."

Kidd said she expects business to be good this summer at her sandwich shop, which "has proven itself to survive sort of anything." But she expects to feel some immediate impacts at her two gift shops. She also just opened a book store.

"I'm not kidding myself, we will somewhat feel it," Kidd said.

But she's already purchased everything for her gift shops. Her shelves are stocked. She said she has no plans for now to cut back on employees or employee hours.

"Full speed ahead," she said.