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Mateo Kehler, co-founder of Jasper Hill Farm, criticizes President Donald Trump\u2019s latest round of tariffs on Canadian goods at a panel at Jay Peak Resort hosted by U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., on Tuesday. Photo by Shaun Robinson\/VTDigger<\/p>\n
JAY \u2014 Mike Desmarais, who sells snow grooming equipment at a dealer in Newport, is planning to deliver three new vehicles to Canadian customers this month. The machines currently cost about $500,000 Canadian dollars each, he said \u2014 but soon, they could cost far more.<\/p>\n
Two of the machines were made in the U.S. If the tariffs Canada plans to impose next week<\/a> take effect, in response to the latest tariffs enacted by President Donald Trump<\/a>, they will be subject to new duties of 50%, he said. That CA$250,000 per vehicle is an amount so large it\u2019s hard to know what his small business should do in response.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHow do you address that?\u201d Desmarais asked a room of business leaders from around the state Tuesday, speaking at a panel hosted by U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt.<\/p>\n Throughout the panel, hosted about 5 miles south of the U.S.-Canada border at Jay Peak Resort, Desmarais and others shared a similar sentiment. They thought business was on the upswing after a slump caused by Canadians who have spurned Vermont<\/a> since Trump took office a second time. But the president\u2019s newest tariffs, which took effect last month, washed away that glimmer of hope.<\/p>\n In recent weeks, \u201cthe workbooks have just slammed shut,\u201d Desmarais said.<\/p>\n Last year, when Trump first imposed tariffs on Canada \u2014 which have since been ruled illegal<\/a> \u2014 \u201cCanadians were disappointed. They were disillusioned. They were sad. They were surprised,\u201d said Steve Wright, the president of Jay Peak Resort. The resort, which typically draws half its visitors from Canada, has said it saw a 35% drop in cross-border visitors<\/a> over the 2025-26 ski season.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year around trade policies, they\u2019re angry,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd you can\u2019t talk to anger.\u201d<\/p>\n Jasper Hill Farm, the renowned cheesemaker in Greensboro, had its worst business year ever in 2025, co-founder Mateo Kehler said. The company had been rapidly growing its business in Canada, he said, until relations between the two countries plummeted last year and that growth \u201cwent absolutely cold.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The company was excited recently when a Canadian importer put in an order for the upcoming holiday season, he said. He saw it as a sign of things turning a corner. But then, the importer canceled after Trump announced the latest round of tariffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSo it looked like half a step forward, and about three steps back,\u201d Kehler said.<\/p>\n Jasper Hill has been in the process of modernizing its manufacturing facility at the Vermont Food Venture Center in nearby Hardwick. The company has had to pay tariffs as high as 50% on new cheesemaking equipment it\u2019s bought from Canada for the project, he said, costs that have been \u201cdevastating\u201d to its bottom line.<\/p>\n Before the latest tariffs were announced, it ordered another machine to automate a particularly tedious part of the cheesemaking process. But the company has not taken delivery of it yet and left it on the other side of the border, because no one is sure exactly how much it\u2019s going to cost, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt becomes almost impossible to manage a budget within the context of this environment,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s horrendous.\u201d<\/p>\n Welch, at the event, touted a bill he introduced last week<\/a> with U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, that would repeal the 1930 federal law Trump used to enact the latest tariffs and that would order refunds to everyone who has paid the new duties so far.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Mike Desmarais, owner and CEO of the snow grooming equipment dealer Track Inc., says President Donald Trump\u2019s latest tariffs could force his business to close its doors at a panel hosted by U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., at Jay Peak Resort on Tuesday. Photo by Shaun Robinson\/VTDigger<\/p>\n