Windsor duty-free store feeling the pinch with more Canadians boycotting U.S.

Article content

As more Canadians think twice about U.S. travel amid ongoing cross-border trade friction, a Windsor duty-free store is among many others feeling the pain.

Abe Taqtaq, owner of Tunnel Duty Free at the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel, told the Star that store sales nosedived 25 to 30 per cent in February after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs against Canada and other countries. Taqtaq said foot traffic has since shown no signs of improvement.

Article content

“It was almost an immediate impact,” said Taqtaq.

“We’ve had to make some changes in terms of staffing levels, unfortunately, but we are doing whatever we can to keep as many of the team employed. How long we will be able to keep that going, I guess remains to be seen.”

Land borders across the country are witnessing a drop-off in Canadians heading south. In March, the latest Statistics Canada numbers showed 1.5 million Canadians returned by car from the U.S. — down nearly 32 per cent from a year earlier.

That downward trend also hit Windsor.

February crossings to Michigan fell by 80,000 after Trump’s tariffs took effect. Though motorists crossing either the Ambassador Bridge or Windsor-Detroit Tunnel into Michigan rebounded by 93,000 in March, it remained well below 2024 figures by about 84,000 fewer travelers.

According to Taqtaq, even the Canadians who do make the trip are steering clear of the duty-free store altogether, out of fear they’ll face extra scrutiny or tariffs when entering the U.S.

Article content

The Star reached out to Ambassador Duty Free on Wednesday morning but did not receive a response ahead of the paper’s print deadline.

Duty-free retailers are among the Windsor-area businesses most vulnerable to the ripple effects of Trump’s tariffs, alongside key sectors like manufacturing, automotive, and agriculture. The U.S. ,Canada’s largest trading partner, accounts for 90 per cent of the city’s exports.

But duty-free retailers face a unique challenge, said Taqtaq.

“Duty-free shops in Canada are 100 per cent dependent on individuals crossing into the United States,” he explained. “There’s no other way about it. We can’t sell domestically. We can’t do mail order. We can’t do internet sales. The people have to come into our store, purchase the product, and physically go into the United States. There’s very little we can do to pivot.”

The latest downturn in cross-border travel, he said, has proved especially challenging because the store has yet to fully recover from the financial fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Article content

“COVID was worse because it was a complete shutdown of the border,” said Taqtaq. “We had to close our store. So, for a period of time, we had to cut shifts and things like that. We never did fully recover after COVID. We were still plying our way back to 2019 numbers last year. We were hoping that this year would be the year that we finally got back to 2019 numbers.

“But if we didn’t have COVID just a few years ago, we could probably weather this storm, as well. It’s just the one-two punch. We were starting to recover last year, and then bang — this happened again.”

He added that there is so far no federal program in place to support duty-free retailers enduring uncertainty at the border.

“A lot of times, we are sidelined and we’re not on those lists for that type of help,” he said. “We saw that during COVID.”

The Frontier Duty Free Association (FDFA), which represents Canada’s land-border retailers, called on political parties in April ahead of the federal election to implement urgent relief measures.

Article content

“These businesses are in crisis,” FDFA executive director Barbara Barrett said during a press conference held mid-April.

“Export land border duty free stores are 100 per cent export businesses. They rely entirely on Canadians crossing into the U.S.

“But now, with continued tariff threats, a dramatic decline in cross-border traffic, and inconsistent government treatment, they are being pushed to the edge.”

Barrett said without government support, one-third of duty-free shops in Canada could shutter within months, according to a recent industry survey.

At the same time that tariff troubles were stamping out U.S. travel, the Peace Bridge duty-free shop — located at Canada’s second-busiest border crossing — was placed into receivership in April after falling behind on rent and struggling to pay off millions in debt.

“If the government follows through on their commitments to sit down with the industries that are most affected by tariffs, I believe that our industry and other industries that have been affected will be around in the future,” said Taqtaq.

“If that’s not going to be done, we may lose some duty-free shops, and may end up closing permanently in the future — in the near future.”

mmazak@postmedia.com

Article content