Canadian Duty-Free Shops Crushed by Border Slump

0:00It's April 4th. This is Vancouver News today, your AI-powered local news. Canadians are traveling south less these days, down 28 percent last year, to 22.9 million trips to the US and January. This year dropped another 22 percent. That slump is crushing border-duty free shops, which rely on folks heading into America to buy booze, smokes, and souvenirs. Trump's talk of Canada as the 51st state, and calls to buy Canadian, have fueled anti-US vibes, killing traffic on key highways, shops report 30 to 50 percent revenue dives since last year, with one in Woodstock closing after 30 years. Owners like Simon Ression Manitoba went from 35 staff to just 4, blaming the political noise for empty roads, and a 75 percent. Drops since 2019. Owners in British Columbia laid off most workers too, warning of tough calls if summer flops. They're hit extra hard by domestic excise tax on cigarettes, around $40 per carton,

1:03that US rivals across the border skip entirely. The Frontier Duty Free Association is pushing Ottawa for tax fixes, loans, and model changes to sell gas or serve truckers, but no aids come through yet. Without government backup, these small-town economic engines could vanish for good, taking jobs and tourism cash with them, unless politics shift and borders buzz again.