Relations not heading south: Canadians still visiting U.S.

OLD ORCHARD BEACH, Maine — The United States and Canada are engaged in a trade dispute, angering Canadians, but it doesn’t seem to be having an impact on tourism. Not yet, anyway.

In Old Orchard Beach, popular with Quebecers, innkeepers report that Canadian tourism remains strong despite the harsh words last month when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed that Canada “won’t be pushed around” and President Donald Trump called the prime minister “weak” and “dishonest.”

Several weeks later, Canada imposed billions of dollars in retaliatory tariffs in response to the Trump administration’s duties on Canadian steel and aluminum.

Mostepha Azizi, a vacationer from Montreal, said he’s confident the war of words will end and that “reason will prevail” between the neighbors.

“For me, it’s just a question of time,” he said. “This thing will settle down. Trudeau and Trump have to find a solution to the problem.”

Canada accounts for the largest number of international visitors to the U.S., with more than 20 million people pumping nearly $20 billion into the U.S. economy, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The number of Canadians heading south has grown this year. Border crossing data indicates the number of Canadian motorists returning from the U.S. in June grew 12.7 percent from last year, a healthy increase, according to a license plate-scanning system used by the Canadian government.

A so-called “Trump Slump” never materialized after Trump’s election, said Allison Wallace of Flight Centre Canada, a travel agency with 150 locations across Canada.

For now, the value of the Canadian dollar is having a bigger impact than the flap between the leaders. The loonie is worth only 76 cents in the U.S.

Vacationer Stella Bigras, of Laval, Quebec, said the trade flap and war of words are between leaders. Regular folks, she said, still get along just fine.

“We are friends. We are neighbors,” she said.