Emerson duty-free shop owner urges feds to step up as plunging cross-border travel 'evaporates' sales

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 15, 2025 7:42 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

The proprietor of the duty-free store successful Emerson, Man., says his family's concern is astatine hazard of shutting down if the national authorities doesn't measurement up with fiscal relief, arsenic plummeting cross-border question has dried up income astatine those stores crossed Canada.

The Emerson Duty Free Shop, located adjacent the Manitoba-U.S. border, is utilized to seeing galore Canadians flocking southbound astir this clip of year, according to proprietor Simon Resch. But helium says concern during this past outpouring interruption looked akin to erstwhile the COVID-19 pandemic halted trips into the United States.

Duty-free stores trust wholly connected cross-border question to merchantability products, including tax-free booze, to travellers, and are legally incapable to pivot to deliveries oregon online sales. They're licensed by the Canada Border Services Agency astatine 52 onshore borderline crossings and planetary airports successful Canada.

"There is nary taxation with us, you know, truthful you tin prevention a batch of wealth and inactive bargain your favourite Canadian products earlier entering the United States," said Resch.

But tensions betwixt Canada and the U.S. person caused immoderate successful Canada to reconsider question southbound of the border, straight impacting Resch's store and others crossed the country.

Resch says he's had to laic disconnected 5 full-time employees since February. The Emerson store is simply a large leader successful the town, which according to 2016 census data has a colonisation of astir 675 people.

Canadians marque up astir 80 per cent of Resch's customers, helium said. He wants to spot the national authorities supply a fiscal enactment bundle for businesses similar his portion income are down.

"The lawsuit basal evaporates — done nary responsibility of the duty-free relation — but galore are inactive stuck with these immense occupancy costs," helium told CBC News connected Tuesday.

'Trump is simply a infinitesimal successful time'

The fig of instrumentality trips among Canadians travelling to the U.S. successful March plummeted compared to the erstwhile year, according to Statistics Canada. Air question dropped by 13.5 per cent portion onshore question fell by astir 32 per cent.

There are 32 onshore borderline duty-free stores crossed Canada, operating successful 7 provinces, according to a 2024 study by the Frontier Duty Free Association.

Since precocious January, income person dropped betwixt 40 and 50 per cent astatine duty-free stores crossed the country, the relation said successful a Monday quality release.

The shops were conscionable opening to retrieve from the COVID-19 pandemic erstwhile caller economical pressures unraveled arsenic U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats against Canada created uncertainty and wounded cross-border traffic, the relation said successful the release.

The relation is asking each of Canada's nationalist governmental parties to see fiscal enactment for duty-free stores to their predetermination platforms.

It's besides calling for regulatory changes and taxation alignment measures that it says would assistance level the playing tract with U.S. competitors.

CBC has reached retired to the national authorities for comment.

Resch says helium needs assistance to wage his remaining staff.

"During the pandemic we took retired loans, we borrowed wealth successful bid to cover, successful part, our payroll expenditures," helium said. "That was a spot of a deed to us. We're inactive carrying those burdens."

No substance what happens, Resch says his anticipation is that the historical relationship betwixt Canada and the U.S. is not permanently fractured.

"It's important that we arsenic Canadians recognize the worth of the narration with our confederate neighbour, and don't get excessively acold removed from the benefits that that narration brings us," helium said. 

"Trump is simply a infinitesimal successful time. Canada and the U.S. will endure."