| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 28, 2025 Contact: [email protected] ICYMI – MONTANA FARMERS AND TOURISM LEADERS SAY TRUMP TARIFFS CAUSE ECONOMIC INSTABILITY AND 25% CANADIAN TOURISM DECLINE Last week, Montana farmers and tourism leaders discussed how the Trump Administration’s across-the-board tariffs are raising prices for consumers, increasing costs for businesses, and forcing small businesses and farmers to make difficult choices about their future. While July 9 marked the end of the original 90-day pause on the tariffs and when new agreements with major trading partners were promised, the Trump Administration continues to move the goalposts and to announce new tariffs. In recent weeks, the administration announced new 30% tariffs on the E.U. and Mexico, 35% tariffs on Canada, and 50% tariffs on Brazil – as well as new tariffs on graphite and copper. In addition to the added costs from the tariffs, the constant change is creating intense disruption and economic uncertainty for business owners across industries from farming to tourism to retail. ● NBC Montana: Montana farmers discuss trade and tariff turmoilThe community is experiencing a 25-30% decrease in visitors from Canada, a historically reliable and high-value group. [Zak Anderson, Executive Director of Explore Whitefish] attributes this decline to confusion and a sense of being unwelcome, both connected to trade and political uncertainty. “All these kind of political and tariff conversations at the federal level, they have trickle-down effects into how people feel and whether or not they want to come down and visit Montana,” Anderson said… It wasn’t all about monetary impacts. [Walter Schweitzer, Farmer and President of the Montana Farmers Union] touched on the serious mental health toll. Farmers and ranchers already face higher-than-average stress and suicide rates, a situation which tariffs are worsening. “Many of you know that farmers and ranchers have the highest incident of suicide of any occupation in the nation,” Schweitzer said. “That’s pretty serious, and this trade war, these tariffs is adding to our daily stress.” ● Daily Montanan: Montana ag producers have a beef with Trump’s tariffs“Instability is the bane of ag producers. We can plan ahead whenever we can. We have so many things we can’t plan for, weather, sickness, disease, all kinds of stuff that we have no kind of control over and never will,” said Benjamin Peterson, a farmer and rancher on E. L. Peterson Ranch, which is just north of Judith Gap. “And you add in governmental and trade instability, it makes it 100 times worse.”… A farmer, John Wicks, the owner of Tiber Ridge Organics south of Chester, said parts for agricultural tools are becoming a major issue. He recently sold a piece of specialized equipment because the parts came from Europe and were about 24% more expensive this season. He lost money and said he’ll have to rent it if he needs it. “It just didn’t pencil out to keep it and have that kind of liability if things broke,” Wicks said. “So that was kind of a really difficult period. And then, you know, Montana agriculture is a generational thing, and these policies and these tariffs are pushing for corporate farms to be able to come in and take over these small family farms.” ### About Tariffs Cost USTariffs Cost US is a new campaign dedicated to providing the public with reliable, comprehensive information about global trade and tariffs, and their impact on both businesses and consumers. More information is available at https://tariffscostus.com/. |
