On Feb. 20, six members of the U.S. Supreme Court read the U.S. Constitution with comprehension and ruled against President Donald Trump’s executive order tariffs – since such tariffs, taxation and foreign trade fall under the responsibilities of Congress.
But a year of Trump’s illegal excises “has been a burden on our business [that] has been substantial — leading to layoffs and halting all growth plans,” Rick Muskat, president of New York-based shoe company Deer Stags Concepts, told NBC News after the high court action.
So, Trump promised more of the same, announcing new tariffs following the high court ruling.
On Feb. 6, Tax Foundation estimated that President Donald Trump’s tariff wars had “raised $132 billion in net tax revenue in 2025.”
Referring to the tariff revenue as a tax is apropos since the New York Federal Reserve reported Feb. 13 that 90% of Trump’s tariffs have been paid for by Usanian consumers.
Tax Foundation’s findings estimated that, “Per U.S. household, the tariffs altogether will amount to an average tax increase of $1,000 in 2025 and $1,300 in 2026.”
Tax Foundation even pointed out the obvious that such Trumpian economics affects the top 1% of us less than those whose work makes those oligarchs richer.
And, on Feb. 19, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census Bureau reported that last year’s trade gap increased by 94.6%, the biggest deficit jump since March of 1992 – again the opposite of what Trump promised.
Tariffs make imports more expensive while making other countries reluctant to buy from U.S. businesses and industries.
Citing his unconstitutional tariff policy as the economic key, Trump claimed during his Feb.24 State of the Union address, “Our country is winning again. In fact, we’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it.”
Certainly not winning are our northern states, where retailers depend upon the Canadians Trump continually insults for substantial contributions to their bottom lines.
Many Canadians have funneled their resentment at Trump’s tariffs and belligerence into boycotts of U.S. vacation destinations and what were once regular cross-border shopping trips.
A December Congressional report pointed out that the “Canadian boycott of the U.S. is hitting border states hard.”
Montana reported “a 44% decrease in Canadian credit card spending compared to 2024.”
Kyle Daley, owner of Soloman’s Store in West Stewartstown, NH – which experienced a 30% decrease in Canadian summer visitors – expressed a sentiment common among border business owners:
“We spoke with Canadian customers who told us point-blank that they were hesitant to cross due to the current political tension. The joy of the ‘shopping day trip’ has been replaced by anxiety over border enforcement and tariffs.”
He added, “When our neighbors stay away, our margins disappear and in groceries those margins are vanishingly small to begin with. The friction at the border is no longer just a headline; it is an empty parking lot and a threat to our livelihood.”
Claiming to have clawed back from the COVID pandemic, Lars Jacobson, owner of Jakes’ Landing in Porthill, ID, said, “We got about 50% of our customers back last summer, but now we’re back down to 25%. We can’t pay the bills if this continues.”
Idaho’s very narrow border saw a 27% drop in crossings in 2025.
In New York, with a 17% drop in border crossings, the North County Chamber of Commerce reported that “83% of businesses experienced a decrease in Canadian customers – with 35% reducing staffing levels to meet the decline,” according to Congressional findings.
“Seventy percent of businesses blamed the political climate and tariff policies for this drastic decrease,”
Border crossings dropped 25% in North Dakota; 28% in Vermont, and 24% in Washington, where a 30% drop in ferry ridership between Seattle and Vancouver Island cost a fourth of its workers their jobs.
At the end of January, Andrea Bennett of Visit Las Vegas reported that three downtown Las Vegas hotels – Circa, the D and Golden Gate – were trying to stop the bleeding by offering Canadian travelers “an at par exchange rate through the end of the summer.”
Currently the Canadian dollar is worth 73 cents in U.S. currency.
In Las Vegas, where the house always wins, three hotels are willing to reduce their margins in order to get any profit at all. [I guess this is a good place to remind folks that our business genius president bankrupted his casino.]
Even Southern cities far from the border have also lost Canadian visitors [and money] due to Trump’s recklessness.
The CBC reported recently that WestJet has suspended its flights from Winnipeg to Atlanta and Nashville due to “a notable decline in transborder travel demand throughout 2025,” according to airline spokesperson Julia Kaiser.
Flights will also be suspended “seasonally” to Orlando.
Treasury Department figures in February set last year’s tariff figure at $124 million, a 300% increase over 2024 – most out of the pockets of normal Usanians.
So, the second part of Trump’s economic State of the Union assessment proves true. He does not know what to do about the economy – except grift.
