Jim Judd’s family has grown maple in Vermont for generations. He says reckless tariffs are turning his farm into a logistical mess.

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He’s an American Maple Syrup Farmer. His Business Depends On Canada.

 

Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs have rattled businesses across North America, small and large. Supply chains have been disrupted, prices are fluctuating, confusion reigns. 

At Maclean’s, we’re interested in what the tariff fallout looks like and how it’s impacting businesses on both sides of the border. Today, we published an eye-opening story by Jim Judd, an American maple syrup farmer in Vermont whose life has been upended by Trump’s tariffs. 

Someone pouring maple syrup onto ice

Judd lives close to the Canadian border, and every tool he needs for his business comes from Quebec, including special drills required to bore holes in maple trees. Trump’s tariff flip-flopping happened right at the beginning of Judd’s brief syrup harvesting season; the Canadian drill company couldn’t figure out how to invoice for orders, and shipments were delayed. It was a mess. “Canadians are my friends and my business partners,” says Judd, “and the way my country is treating them is unfathomable to me.”

Visit macleans.ca for more coverage of everything that matters in Canada, and subscribe to the magazine here.

—Sarah Fulford, editor-in-chief, Maclean’s

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Until August 31
 
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