CBS 6 Albany: US-Canada-Mexico tariff war triggers fears of $1,200 tax hike for New Yorkers

March 5th, 2025

Tuesday, March 4, 2025 – View the full story from Emma Quinn here.

CAPITAL REGION, NY (WRGB) — A Tariff war is underway between the U.S. and Canada and the US and Mexico.

At midnight 25 percent tariffs went into effect.

Many Americans are now worried about how this will impact their wallets.

Financial experts and state leaders say the tariffs could mean a $1,200 tax on New Yorkers.

“I believe it will result in higher prices and the longer that it lasts, perhaps a shift in supply chain that in some ways may benefit the United States in other ways may hurt it,” said financial expert Dennis Fagan. “We import a lot of agricultural products from both Canada and Mexico.”
Those imports range from lumber, oil, tomatoes, avocados, bananas and more.

Fagan says energy imports could face challenges down the road too; the tariffs could lead to supply chain concerns.

“The longer a frail relationship exists, the more manufacturers need to fill their supply chain and look for alternative avenues,” said Fagan.

Justin Wilcox, Executive Director of Upstate United said the construction industry could see some large hurdles. “Whether you’re talking about the materials for the interior of a building in gypsum and the drywall material that you use in construction, all those materials. So you could see costs increase dramatically in construction; and that’s really detrimental to, especially the policies we’re trying to enact here in New York State, which is to lower the cost of construction, right?

According to Connect 2 Canada, New York imports $22.8 billion worth of goods from our northern neighbors.

In the coming weeks, industry experts say that could change.

Fagan said, “The longer that this goes on, just like it came out of COVID, the longer a frail relationship exists, the more manufacturers need to fill their supply chain and look for alternative avenues.

It’s more than just the imports, New York exports $19.5 billion in goods to Canada and other countries.

“Forty percent of agricultural products made here in New York are not consumed in the state of New York, they’re exported to other countries,” said Governor Hochul during a roundtable discussion on agriculture impacts from tariffs. “Everybody has to know the ripple effect on every sector of our economy and it’s just starting today.”

If countries don’t accept our exports it could have longer lasting effects.

“As those goods get much more expensive, they’ll sell less of them across the border, ” said Wilcox. “So unfortunately, what you’re gonna see companies that export to canada having to do because of declining revenues is lay people off.”