A local business leader in the Plattsburgh area says that late last year there were signs that Canadian tourists were returning to New York.
Tyler A. McNeil/Times Union
Sign for the Battlefield Tour Road at Saratoga National Historical on Oct. 1, 2025, in Stillwater. A state comptroller report published earlier this month found that in 2025, visits were down at many state parks in New York due in part to U.S. tariffs on Canada and President Donald Trump’s remarks about annexing Canada. Visits to Saratoga National Historic Park, however, were up by 2,000 in 2025, bucking that trend.
Will Waldron/Times Union
A report from the state comptroller’s office found that tariffs put in place last year by the Trump administration were a financial drag on New York.
Tyler A. McNeil/Times Union
The U.S.-Canadian border on Interstate 87 in Champlain is seen on March 24. A report from the state comptroller’s office found that tariffs put in place last year by the Trump administration were a financial drag on New York.
Tyler A. McNeil/Times Union
ALBANY — President Donald J. Trump’s aggressive tariff policies and rhetoric aimed at Canada, the state’s most important trading partner, had dire consequences for New York’s economy in 2025, according to a new study by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
The study, released earlier this month, found that Canadian travel to New York fell 21% in 2025, with 3.6 million fewer travelers coming into the state, while exports headed to Canada fell $3.8 billion.
Article continues below this ad
The tariff policies caused exports to fall with nearly half of New York’s global trading partners and across more than two-thirds of all products New York exports, according to the report.
The impact has been harshest in the counties near the border, which rely heavily on trade and tourism with Canada. For instance, in the North Country, which includes the heavily visited Adirondack Mountains, the number of travel-related jobs dropped by 1.9%, while hotel and restaurant jobs fell 2.6%, the report found.
The report said that the average consumer in the U.S. paid $1,000 to $1,700 more for the things they bought in 2025 due to the tariffs on imports. Those tariffs totaled $264 billion in 2025, more than triple the amount of tariffs levied in 2024.
Make the Times Union a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search.
Add Preferred Source
In relative terms, the effective tariff rate on Americans, the tariff revenue collected as a percentage of imports, more than tripled in April 2025, when it shot up from 2.4% to 10% and then higher to 11.8% in November before falling back to slightly under 10% in December.
Article continues below this ad
In short, nearly all facets of the New York economy have been negatively impacted by the Trump tariffs, DiNapoli’s report found, especially in regions like the North Country that rely heavily on Canadian trade and tourism for their livelihoods. Those North Country counties voted overwhelmingly for Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
“Federal policies are driving foreign travelers away and taking billions in tourism spending and harming our economy as exports substantially decline,” DiNapoli, a Democrat, said. “New York is a top destination for tourists to the U.S., and policies that welcome and encourage international travel are needed to avoid damaging economic consequences.”
There was more troubling economic data included in DiNapoli’s report: During 2025, visits to both state and national parks in New York state dropped overall. Those visits are usually fueled in part by international visitors and Canadians.
There were 2.3 million fewer visitors to state parks in 2025, the comptroller’s report found. And there was an 18 percent drop in visits to national parks in New York state, although visits to Saratoga National Historical Park were up by 2,000 visitors in 2025. Visits to the iconic Statue of Liberty were down 4.6 percent, or 183,000 visitors, compared to 2024.
Article continues below this ad
The Times Union had sought comment on DiNapoli’s report from the U.S. Commerce Department.
The Times Union called the White House for comment. After the White House switchboard patched a reporter through to the press office, no one answered the phone.
Trump, a Republican, has argued his tariffs will protect American workers and reduce the trade deficit.
On a local level, there does seem to be some optimism, especially in Clinton County, where Plattsburgh is located and home to the North Country Chamber of Commerce.
Article continues below this ad
Garry Douglas, the chamber’s president and CEO, has a deep understanding of the local economy and how Canadians and Americans on both sides of the border share unique economic and cultural bonds that go far beyond national borders.
Plattsburgh is considered a virtual suburb of Montreal to those in the area, having been founded by the same French and Irish immigrants who settled in Quebec as well, Douglas points out.
That has actually given the North Country and places like Plattsburgh a leg up in trying to repair the damage the tariffs have done to cross-border trade. Douglas says the drop in tourism has more to do with Trump’s insults of the Canadian people and their independence as a nation. Douglas notes that Canadians joined the Union Army during the Civil War, fought alongside Americans during the Normandy invasion and have helped their New York friends and relatives during difficult times for decades.
The president infuriated Canadians by suggesting America should annex the country and make it the 51st state.
Article continues below this ad
“It’s important to understand that the anger has less to do with continuing tariff threats, though that uncertainty is stalling many investments here that otherwise would have occurred, and more to do with comments about their sovereignty, seemingly belying their uniquely special support for Americans repeatedly for over 150 years,” Douglas said.
Douglas added that while Canadian travel into the North Country was down 30 percent through October of 2025, it actually reversed course during the November and December holiday shopping period and was up 8 percent over 2024 for those two months as Canadians shopped for holiday deals.
“That hopefully shows we are partially turning the corner,” Douglas said.