Almost 500,000 travelers less crossed the land border from Canada to the United States in February compared to the same month last year, according to customs data and border protection of the United States (CBP), the last sign that the teasing and tariffs of President Donald Trump have shaken bilateral relations.
The number of travelers who entered the US. In a passenger vehicle, the most common way of making the trip, fell from 2,696,512 in February 2024 to 2,223,408 last month, reaching levels not seen since cross-border trips are normalized in the era after Vidvid-19.
In fact, the number of travelers driving along the United States land border is the lowest since April 2022, according to CBP data. The Canadian government did not raise all the restrictions related to travel, such as tests and quarantine measures, until October of that year. The fact that the current flow of travelers is at the same level as when the trip was much more arduous is revealing, experts say.
The data show that there was a sudden reversal in February, just when Trump launched his commercial war and increased his annexationist rhetoric over Canada becoming state 51.
The number of cross -border travelers who went to the US. In October, November, December and January they were well above the numbers reported during the same month of the previous year, but in February there was a clear rest in the upward trend.
Len Saunders is an immigration lawyer in Blaine, Washington, a city of approximately 6,000 people right on the border with BC.
He said that the decrease in Canadian hikers is evident in each step in a city that serves cross -border travelers.
“This is like Covid again,” he said in an interview with CBC News. “With Trump’s rhetoric, people simply do not want to come here.
“If you are not buying American liquor in BC, it will definitely not come here to save 20 dollars in gasoline. There is only a great reduction in Canadians: you can see it in the Costco parking lot, in Trader Joe’s. Canadians are voting with their wallets at this time. That is what is happening,” he said.
Saunders said that state teasing 51, tariff threats and Canadian reports arrested for immigration and customs application (ICE) of the United States are moving away from people.
“We only have two months in a four -year administration. If they maintain this, there will be no Canadians who come here, there will be a boycott of 100 percent of this country,” he said.
Barbara Barrett is the executive director of Frontier Duty Free Association, a group that represents 32 free property stores of independent property taxes that dot the Canadian side of the land border from coast to coast.
She said that the decrease in the trip is “catastrophic” and that mostly relatives that represent are seeing that sales fall dramatically.
She said that sales never really recovered after pandemic and now, with recent interruptions, approximately 80 percent decreased compared to figures prior to 2020.
“Without hyperbole, it is a serious situation. It is very worrying,” Barrett said in an interview with CBC News. “It is surely a Pandemic level thing. It is dramatic: borders are simply not seeing traffic.”
The poor Canada-United States exchange rate, which is partly promoted by Trump’s commercial policies, has made the border excursions less attractive to many Canadian tourists and busting buyers.
But Barrett said that cross-border traffic decreases are not due to the evil of change: he believes that he is driven by the anti-tariff feeling that led many Canadians to leave trips to the United States while the country is in this fight with Trump.
“We have seen that the dollar fluctuates up and down before and we have not seen this type of dramatic decline,” he said. “If it were the dollar, we would have an avalanche of Americans who come and we are not seeing that.”
Beyond passenger vehicles, there are other signs of a travel fall in CBP data.
The number of truck drivers that make the cross -border trip fell from 493,000 in February 2024 to 473,000 this year.
There are relatively few pedestrians that cross the border on foot at the death of winter, but those figures were also lower. CBP reported that the number of walkers fell from approximately 117,000 in February 2024 to 99,000 last month.
The number of passengers traveling by air to the US.
Air trips are generally reserved weeks or months in advance and it is generally more difficult to cancel than a one -day trip by land. Since then, some airlines have also reported a drop in US reserves.
Statistics Canada Data supports what the CBP reports.
In February, the number of Canadian residents who returned from the United States.
There were about 1.2 million trips back last month compared to 1.5 million the previous year.
The Federal Agency described these figures as a “steep” decrease, comparable to the fall registered during the health crisis when the cross -border trip stops.
There was also a decrease in Americans who arrived in Canada by the car, but the fall was not so dramatic, found Statscan, with a record of 7.9 percent recorded.
Trump first launched his commercial war with Canada on February 1, which led to former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to respond with retaliation tariffs and a call to Canadians to buy local products and travel inside Canada.
Trudeau urged people to “choose Canada” to send a signal to the White House that the country will not represent punishing tariffs that have the potential to torpedo the economy.
“It could mean changing its summer holiday plans, staying here in Canada and exploring the many national sites, parks and historical destinations that our country has to offer,” he said.
The new data show that Canadians are making less trips to the United States, especially by land, and many cite the political climate under US President Donald Trump as the main reason not to cross the border.
Trump has imposed 25 percent tariffs on some Canadian goods to supposedly the action of drugs and migrants on the border. Later added another tariff layer with a 25 percent tax on steel and aluminum imports.
The president is also expected to arrive in Canada with more “reprisal” rates on April 2.
Canada responded with his own countermeasures, that Prime Minister Mark Carney said he will remain in his place “until Americans show us respect.”
