Gas Prices Squeeze US-Canada Border Travel

0:00It's April 24th. This is Canada News Today, AI-powered stories from your city. Gas prices are hitting drivers hard on both sides of the U.S. Canada border, making fill-ups way more expensive. For a 14-gallon tank, you're looking at about $56 in the U.S. now, up from $41 and $94 in Canada, compared to $70 last year, that's nearly 30% higher in both spots, and it's squeezing cross-border road trips even more. Here this year, Canadian car trips to the U.S. dropped 12.3% in February alone, down to 1.2 million, after a huge, 30.9% plunge last year. Most blame tariffs intense talk from the Trump administration, with polls showing 67% of Canadians avoiding the U.S. over politics by, early March, right as the Iran conflict kicked off in spiked fuel costs. Cross-and-border towns like Blaine, Washington, and Saltstay Marie are feeling the pain big time.

1:00Mayors and tourism bosses report traffic from Canada down 40% in some spots, hitting shops, restaurants, and tax revenue. People are angry, calling out the trade fights, and feeling unsafe, crossing over amid all the rhetoric. Fuel tourism is basically dead, too. Canadians used to flock south for cheaper gas, but now it's just 2% of trips thanks to a weak loony and new taxes on both sides. Polls say 32% of Canadians and 42% of Americans are ditching travel plans over higher-pump prices. Meanwhile, U.S. visits the Canada ticked up a bit, but experts warned this, warned this downward trend for Canadians heading south, could stick around long term. Higher costs and lost trust mean fewer road warriors this season, keeping more folks home.