Canadian boycott hits county Trump won: Border town businesses hurting

Since February, fewer passenger cars have crossed the Blue Water Bridge into Michigan from a year ago

New data from the Michigan Department of Transportation shows Canadian shoppers stayed away during May in big numbers compared to a year ago, and business owners in the border community of St. Clair County, Michigan, can’t help but notice.

“We are very concerned,” Port Huron Mayor Anita Ashford told Shifting Gears.

“I actually did a walk through some businesses for some moral support, to let them know we’re there for them,” she said. “We can’t physically go over to Canada and tell them to come here and shop. But I think we have to stay welcoming.”

The decrease in westbound passenger traffic over the bridge appears to coincide with remarks made in February to Fox News by President Trump, confirming he was serious about making Canada a 51st state.

“People are not coming over to shop with their dollars,” Ashford said. “We didn’t expect it but we certainly welcomed it. And it helped our economy. Now that money is not coming.”

A view of Thomas Edison Parkway in Port Huron, Michigan, from Canada.People cross the Blue Water Bridge to dine, grocery shop, buy clothes and get car repairs. (Photo: Phoebe Wall Howard)

The latest government data obtained by Shifting Gears from the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) shows passenger traffic over the Blue Water Bridge — from Port Edward, Ontario, to Port Huron, Michigan — has continued to drop compared to the same time last year:

• In May, dropped by 30% to 96,068 passenger vehicles

• In April, dropped by 29% to 56,606 passenger vehicles

• In March, dropped by 24% to 62,364 passenger vehicles

• In February, dropped by 20% to 52,871 passenger vehicles

MDOT sources information from Canada’s Federal Bridge Corporation Limited and compiles data that’s monitored closely by state and federal officials.

From February through May, official data shows 85,035 fewer passenger cars passed over the Blue Water Bridge into the U.S.

Local businesses see those carloads as consumers lost and dollars unspent.

A view across the St. Clair River to Canada. Businesses in St. Clair County, Michigan, depend on passenger cars that carry shoppers into Port Huron. Families came for meals, shopping until the boycott began. (Photo: Phoebe Wall Howard)

In January, prior to discussion of a 51st state, passenger traffic from Canada over the Blue Water Bridge grew by 2% to 64,726 passenger vehicles.

Port Huron-area businesses — from the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel on the St. Clair River and Belle Tire in Fort Gratiot to Elite Feet shoes downtown — told Shifting Gears last month that they felt the economic impact.

Canadian tourists contribute about $400 million a year to the Michigan economy. Day trips are especially popular at border crossings in Port Huron, Detroit and Sault Ste. Marie.

“This is about economic viability,” Port Huron City Manager James Freed told Shifting Gears previously. “Our local economies are economically interdependent.”

Bill Pozios, owner of Mama Vicki’s Coney Island North in Fort Gratiot and Mama Vicki’s Coney Island in downtown Port Huron, can see the business disruption.

“There’s definitely been a drop in Canadian customers,” he said. “Business is definitely down. At the north end (of town), it looked like you were in Canada some weekends. That’s me just being alive and breathing, noticing that … I’ve been serving many of these families for 49 years. I know them because they’ve been coming here since I was a kid. You don’t see as many Canadian cars now.”

Bill Pozios, owner and cook, at Mama Vicki’s Coney Island North in Fort Gratiot, Michigan, in December 2022. (Photo: Part of a 5-star review on Pozios FB page)

Big stores up north told Shifting Gears that they’re getting hit hard in clothing and food sales. That includes places such as Walmart, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Meijer.

“Absolutely we’re seeing less traffic,” said a retailer with firsthand knowledge of the situation who requested to keep their name and title not be used because they weren’t authorized to talk to the press. '

‘We’re all suffering’

Major stores in the Port Huron area are set up to cater to border traffic, the retailer said. “We’re all suffering. You see it through your sales and transaction counts going through the register. You see a difference, for sure. We all see it. If this continues, you’ll see layoffs or downsizing of staff. Our people are going to get less hours because we don’t have that money to pay them. That’s everyone.”

A major retailer in St. Clair County told Shifting Gears that the downward trend is “concerning” and it’s important to convey this message to Canadians: “Please don’t make one person stand for everybody else. We are businesses owners and residents of Port Huron. We’re not President Trump. The decisions he’s made are not ours.”

Otie McKinley, spokesman for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, has said retailers statewide have reported sales declines.

President Trump won St. Clair County, home to Port Huron, in 2024 with 66.5% of the vote. He won the state of Michigan by 80,103 votes in 2024 of 5,664,186 total votes cast.

A view of the Blue Water Bridge from the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Port Huron. Freighters often pass by the sculpture of Thomas Edison, who delivered newspapers to his boyhood community. (Photo: Phoebe Wall Howard)

More: What I discovered at the Canadian Embassy

More: Canadian sailors redesign race course, avoid U.S. waters for safety and security

More: My neighbors fly a Canadian flag

Note: I’m a proud member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please check out our work here. Just a great mix of national political analysis, features from the Heartland.