‘A tragedy’: Fargo mayor worried about impact of possible trade war

Fargo Mayor Dr. Timothy J. Mahoney discusses Manitoba’s impact on Fargo’s economy and what he hopes to see happen with the trade war.

With a looming trade war between Canada and the United States, many Manitobans may be rethinking their plans of crossing the border, which could be harmful to the U.S. economy.

According to Fargo’s Mayor Dr. Tim Mahoney, Manitobans have been a great benefit to the city’s economy with their shopping trips. He added that losing out on these visitors would be “a tragedy” that would impact Fargo’s retail and hospitality sectors.

“Many of my retailers are very upset because we love to see the Manitoba plates down here in Fargo, and people exploring and doing things in our community,” he said in an interview with CTV Morning Live on Tuesday.

Mahoney estimated that Canadians account for five to 10 per cent of the shopping in Fargo, adding that it would be “a major blow” to retailers to lose out on these customers.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump put a 30-day pause on the potential tariffs. Going forward, Mahoney said he hopes to see Canada treated well and for the relations between the two countries to be repaired.

“Red River is a river that we share between the two if us and how we work together on that river is something that we enjoy,” he said.

“We’ve had good collaboration with many Canadians on many issues that we’ve had throughout the years, and we feel that they’re good neighbours and we would like them to be treated as good neighbours.”

Mahoney said he plans to reach out to the secretary of the interior about his concerns.

“We still want [Manitobans] coming and we’ll work hard to make this thing go away, so we all can enjoy good relationships.”

• With files from CTV’s Rachel Lagacé