Kansas businesses hit by Trump’s trade war are wooing Canadian customers

By Canadian Press on May 20, 2025.

OTTAWA — The head of the Topeka Kansas Chamber of Commerce is in Ottawa this week seeking to strengthen ties as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to rattle cross-border business relationships.

Juliet Abdel is meeting with federal and provincial officials, Canadian mayors and officials with the Canadian Pacific Kansas City rail network.

She says Trump’s tariffs and Canada’s retaliatory tariffs threaten her region’s economy.

Abdel says about 20 per cent of the local workforce relies on international trade and that Kansas trades billions of dollars worth of goods and services with Canada every year.

The state is linked to Canada through agriculture, chemicals, and auto and aerospace manufacturing.

Abdel says she also wants to find ways to reduce the backlash in her region caused by Canadian consumers shunning American-made goods and avoiding travel south of the border.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 20, 2025.

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press

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